The labor spy racket

THE LABOR SPY

RAC K LEO HUBERMAN

THE LABOR SPY
RACKET

by LEO HUBERMAN

Here are the facts of tyranny in America,
a tyranny worse than that which drove
George Washington, Jefferson, Tom Paine,
John Adams and the other Founding Fa-
thers to revolution. The Labor Spy Racket
records the testimony produced at the La-
Follette investigation, revelations of indus-
trial espionage, company police brutality,
unlawful arrests, murders, secret supplies of
ammunition and gases to be used against
civilians, and other outrages that shocked
the country revelations which made
headline news for weeks.

Mr. Huberman, well-known writer on
labor subjects, was in Washington during
the hearings of the LaFollette Civil Liber-
ties Committee, and he has made a notable
condensation of the first eight bulky official
volumes of testimony and evidence. Here
it is. You'll find it dramatic reading.

MODERN AGE BOOKS, Inc.
155 East 44th Street, New York

From the collection of the

OP Z T m
1 rrelinger

i a
library

t P

San Francisco, California
2006

I

The Labor Spy Racket

by the same author

"WE, THE PEOPLE"

MAN'S WORLDLY GOODS

The
Labor Spy Racket

BY LEO HUBERMAN

MODERN AGE BOOKS, INC., NEW YORK

COPYRIGHT 1937 BY LEO HUBERMAN

All rights in this book are reserved, and it may
not be reproduced in whole or in part without
written permission from the holder of these rights.
For information address the publishers.

Composed and printed in the United States of America by Union Labor

AT THE RUMFORD PRESS, CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE

Typography by Robert Josephy

First printing September 1937
Second printing September 1937

To Sybil, Aileen, and Roger,
staunch trade unionists

CONTENTS

i. $80,000,000 a Year for Spies 3

ii. Smash the Union ! 9

in. Spies at Work 34

iv. The Gentle Art of Hooking 50

v. The Rats' Code 71

vi. Employers Organize 105

vn. "The American Way" 139

vin. What is to be done? 157

ILLUSTRATIONS

Following page

Senate Probers Examine " Persuader " 74

"Six Little Pinks Sitting in a Row" 74

Raymond J. Burns and W. Sherman Burns 74

John L. Lewis at the Hearings 74

The Frankensteen Battle (i) 106

The Frankensteen Battle (2) 106

The Frankensteen Battle (3) 106

"Memorial Day Massacre " at Republic Steel 106

PREFACE

MOST of the material in this book is based on the evidence intro-
duced in the hearings before the Subcommittee of the Committee on
Education and Labor of the United States Senate, popularly
known as the La Follette Civil Liberties Committee. The hearings
were reported in the press, but for obvious reasons the press ac-
counts could not be full enough. The complete text has been printed
by the Government Printing Office 2,500,000 words of steno-
graphic records to date, published in eight volumes with perhaps
twice that number still to come. An obvious need, lest this vitally
important material be buried on committee shelves, was a short
book that would fall between the too-short newspaper account and
the too-long stenographic record.

I have tried to write such a book. My task, as I saw it, was to
become thoroughly familiar with the complete text and select
therefrom, and then organize, those highlights that tell the story.
It is a shocking story. It is a story which should shame our indus-
trialists and arouse our workers. It is a story which should cause all
fair-minded Americans to rise up in their wrath and demand that
immediate steps be taken to prevent what has happened here from
ever happening again.

Only that part of the committee's work which pertains to Labor
Spies is dealt with in these pages. The related topics of strike-
breaking and industry's traffic in tear gas and munitions receive
little attention, primarily because they have been so fully treated in
/ Break Strikes by Edward Levinson, and because it was important
to keep the book as short and simple as possible.

I am deeply indebted to the following for their advice and help:
Max Lerner, David J. Saposs, Edwin S. Smith, and my wife.

LEO HUBERMAN

New York, June 1937

I. $80,000,000 a Year for Spies

FOR TEN YEARS Richard Frankensteen had been a trimmer in
the Dodge plant of the Chrysler Corporation in Detroit. He had
followed in the footsteps of his father who had worked for the
Dodge Corporation for many years before and had been a leader in
the plant band. Frankensteen was popular with the other employees
in the trim division and in 1934 they elected him as their repre-
sentative in the Chrysler Corporation Representation Plan. At a
meeting of the representatives of the other divisions, Frankensteen
was elected as chairman of the whole section. It was not long before
he and the other representatives learned that their Works Council
had definite limitations: collective bargaining under this company
union plan meant that the men could ask for and get better lighting,
a larger milk bottle, improved ventilation, and similar concessions.
But beyond these they could not go. When it came to collective
bargaining for higher wages, shorter hours, seniority rights, etc.,
the employee representation plan failed them.

The representatives decided to get together and call meetings of
their constituents to see what could be done. The outcome of these
meetings of the Chrysler workers was the formation of a union of
their own, the Automotive Industrial Workers Association. Four-
teen locals of the A.I.W.A. were organized in the Dodge plant and
Richard Frankensteen was elected president. At the same time,
Frankensteen, along with the other representatives, continued his
services in the Chrysler employee representation plan. The workers
had both a company union and their own union.

Frankensteen was a hardworking president. He attended the
meetings of the fourteen locals and made speeches to the members.
One night in 1934, after a speech to the members of the paint local,

3

4 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

Frankensteen was driven home in the car of the vice president of the
local, John Andrews. This was the beginning of a warm friendship.
Andrews became Frankensteen's most trusted companion. Richard
wanted more than anything else to create a strong union composed
of militant wideawake members, and he naturally took to John who
was fearless, uncompromising, and able. John was a strong union
man; he harangued the men for hours and gave them courage to go
out on strike when conditions grew too bad; he was the leader on
the picket line; he drove Richard around in his car to union meet-
ings at any and all hours. Richard felt that he could depend on
John to devote every moment of his spare time to the formation of
that powerful body of militant unionized workers which was
Richard's sole ambition.

Both men were married and had two children. The families,
living less than ten blocks apart, became very friendly. John's
wife, Dee, and her two children, were frequent visitors at tKe
Frankensteen home. While Carol-Lee and Marilyn Frankensteen
played with Ronnie and Dale Andrews, Richard's wife, Mickey, and
Dee Andrews would go on shopping trips together. When Dee was
sick Mickey brought over some custard she had made and took care
of Ronnie and Dale. On another occasion John and Dee drove
Mickey and the babies to and from her parents' home in Dayton,
where all of them stayed together in the old folks' house and had a
grand two day visit. Five nights a week and all day Sunday the
two men rode around together busy with their union work, but
every Saturday night was set aside regularly for Fun a joint good
time when the two wives with their husbands met for dinner and the
movies. In the summer of 1935 when the plant was shut down for a
few weeks, the two families went to Lake Orion for a vacation.
They took a house together and shared expenses. The Andrews
and the Frankensteens were firm fast friends for the two years
following that night in 1934 when John Andrews first shook hands
with Richard Frankensteen after his speech at the meeting of the
paint local.

Tet every day for the whole period of tbeir friendship, John Andrews

$80,000,000 A YEAR FOR SPIES 5

wrote a detailed report of the activities of bis pal^ Dick Frankensteen.
John Andrews was a spy. He sent his reports to the office of the
Corporations Auxiliary Co., a private detective agency hired by the
Chrysler Corporation. For spying on his friend Frankensteen and
his other fellow workers, John Andrews was paid $40 a month by
the Corporations Auxiliary. For the services of its spy, L-392 (the
code number of John Andrews), Corporations Auxiliary billed the
Chrysler Corporation at the rate of $9.00 per day. And for the
services of all its undercover operatives in 1935, Corporations Auxil-
iary was paid by the Chrysler Corporation the sum of $72,611.89.
From that last figure the payment to one detective agency by
one corporation in one year it becomes obvious that the story of
John Andrews and Richard Frankensteen is more than the story of a
friend betrayed. It is the story of a big business. John Andrews was
one operative of one agency. There are hundreds of agencies employ-
ing thousands of operatives in the United States. There are agency
chains with branch offices in many large industrial centers. Their
undercover operatives are at work in every part of the country in
every industry. It is impossible to obtain exact figures for either
the number of agencies or their operatives. They operate in secret
and never divulge more information than they have to about their
business. In the hearings before the Subcommittee of the Committee
on Education and Labor of the United States Senate the La
Follette Civil Liberties Committee they were very unwilling wit-
nesses. They lied frequently and suffered from partial and complete
loss of memory throughout. However, Mr. Heber Blankenhorn,
industrial economist on the National Labor Relations Board, was
able to furnish the committee with a list he had compiled after
twenty years of study of industrial espionage. Mr. Blankenhorn is
the foremost authority on the subject in the United States. Here is
his list from the record:

As of April 1936

Total agencies 230 [Turn to Appendix

A for complete list]

6 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

Systems:

Cities
William J. Burns, International Detective Agency, Inc. 43

Pinkerton's National Detective Agency 35

Railway Audit and Inspection Co., with affiliates

(known to be incomplete) 18

Corporations Auxiliary Co. (known to be incomplete) 8
Sherman Service, Inc 9

How many operatives these 230 agencies employ is still a mys-
tery. Estimates vary from 40,000 for all of them to 135,000 for just
the Burns, Pinkerton, and Thiel agencies alone. The minimum
figure is based on the fact that there are some 41,000 union locals
in the United States and it is estimated that there is a spy in every
local. One labor leader with many years of experience states that he
never "knew of a gathering large enough to be called a meeting
and small enough to exclude the spy."

What is the cost to industry of this countrywide spy service?
How much of the money that you pay for the milk you drink, the
car you drive, the clothing you wear, the furniture you use, the food
you eat, went to paying the miserable wages of the stool-pigeons
and the fabulous salaries of the agency heads? We don't know
exactly, but even the lowest estimate will astound you. Mr. Blank-
enhorn, figuring an average of $175 a month paid to the agency per
spy, and 40,000 spies, computes the minimum cost at over $80,-
000,000 per year! That this is probably too low an estimate was
indicated in the hearings before the committee when General
Motors officials testified that their plants had paid to Pinkertons
alone, $419,850.10, for the period from January 1934 through July
1936; and that they paid to all the agencies they hired in that
period a total of $994,855.68 ! Small wonder that so many detective
agencies have given up shadowing criminals and have turned their
attention to selling what they euphemistically call their " industrial
service." They have found that there is more money in industry
than in crime.

$80,000,000 A YEAR FOR SPIES 7

Who are the clients of these detective agencies? Here is a partial
list of the customers:

Employers' associations 36

Corporations of nationwide scope 14

Railroads 27

Tractions, utilities, bus companies 29

Metallurgy and machinery 52

Mining 32

Auto industry 28

Clothing, silk, and textile mills 29

Steamship lines 20

Radio and refrigerators 9

Food 28

Shoe and leather 1 1

Building, supplies, etc 7

Milling 8

Department and clothing stores 7

Publishers and printing 5

Real estate 6

Trucking, delivery, warehousing 17

Lumber, woodworking 3

Hotels and theaters 9

Banking, trust and security 5

Miscellaneous 47

Total 429

A breakdown of that list will reveal some names of companies
which are well known to you. For example, among the 499 clients in
19 states of the Corporations Auxiliary Co. in the period 1934-1936
were the following:

Aluminum Co. of America Crane Co.

American Book Co. Diamond Match Co.

Chrysler Corp. (23 plants) Dixie Greyhound Lines

8 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

Firestone Tire and Rubber Co. Midland Steel Products Co.

General Motors Corporation New York Edison Co.

and subsidiaries (13 plants) Postum Co.

International Shoe Co. Quaker Oats Co.

Kellogg Co. Radio Corp. of America

Kelvinator Corp. Standard Oil Co.
Statler Hotels, Inc.

The Pinkerton Agency, in the years 1933-1936, "serviced" these
familiar firms, among many others:

Abbott's Dairies Montgomery Ward & Co.

Bethlehem Steel Co. National Cash Register Co.

Campbell Soup Co. Ohrbach's Affiliated Stores

Continental Can Co. Pennsylvania R. R. Co.

Curtis Publishing Co. Shell Petroleum Corp.

Endicott- Johnson Corp. Sinclair Refining Co.
Libbey-Owens Ford Glass Co. United Shoe Machinery Corp.

And among the mutilated records of the Railway Audit and In-
spection Co., the following names appeared:

Borden Milk Co.

Carnegie-Illinois Steel Corporation f subsidiaries of

H. C. Frick Coal and Coke Co. \ United States Steel

Consolidated Gas Co. of New York

Frigidaire Corp.

Jewish Hospital, Brooklyn, N. Y.

Pennsylvania Greyhound Bus Co.

Western Union

Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Co.

These are only a few of the clients of three of the agencies. A
complete list covering all the agencies would contain hundreds of
other names. Big firms and small firms, old firms and new firms,
famous firms headed by famous people and unknown firms headed
by unknown people all are subscribers to the "industrial service"
of these private detective agencies.

II. Smash the Union!

NOW $80,000,000 a year is a lot of money.

When the detective agencies sell their industrial service, what are
they selling ? What do their customers get in return for the $80,000,-
ooo a year?

You would think that the quickest and easiest way of having that
question answered would be to ask the people who buy the service
and the people who sell it. Senator La Follette and Senator Thomas
tried that. But they found that this was a peculiar business. The
people who knew most about it wouldn't talk. They were very secre-
tive. They destroyed many of their records. Often they didn't hear
the question or when they did hear it, they didn't understand it.
They beat around the bush. They were shifty unwilling witnesses.
They lied frequently. Nevertheless, there were times when the
evidence was so overwhelming, that they had to come clean. Backed
into a corner from which there was no escape they had to confess to
the truth. And bit by bit, the story did come out. Salvaged records,
indiscreet letters, confessions by spies, confessions by operatives,
admissions by plant managers all were piled up until the broad
outlines of the business and many of the details, were clear. We
know now what the private detective agencies sold.

They sold a unique service Union-Prevention and Union-
Smashing. Industrialists who bought the service wanted to know
about their workers' attempts to organize. They paid $80,000,000
a year to keep their plants from becoming unionized, or if they were
unionized, to break up the union. There is no longer any doubt
about it. The record is clear.

Here, for example, is part of a letter from the Foster Service to a
prospective client:

9

io THE LABOR SPY RACKET

Your letter of July 28 is received. With reference to your in-
quiry about my experience and what I am prepared to do in
case of disturbance, etc.

First, I will say that if we are employed before any union or
organization is formed by the employees, there will be no strike
and no disturbance. This does not say there will be no unions
formed, but it does say that we will control the activities of the
union and direct its policies, provided we are allowed a free
hand by our clients.

Second. If a union is already formed and no strike is on or
expected to be declared within 30 or 60 days, although we are
not in the same position as we would be in the above case, we
could and I believe with success carry on an intrigue
which would result in factions, disagreements, resignations of
officers, and general decrease in the membership.

That's plain and to the point. Another letter, from the Marshall
Detective Service Company to the Red Star Milling Company of
Wichita, Kansas, was equally precise. It is especially interesting
because in it the agency found it necessary to explain something
that might have puzzled the client: the Red Star Company was pay-
ing for Union-Smashing, yet the reports it received from the agency
showed that the operative was about to become an officer in the
union! It looked like the doublecross, but the agency assures the
client that everything is O.K.:

You have doubtless learned from the reports that our No. 20
is likely to be elected Recording Secretary of the Local in
Wichita, and for fear that you may not understand this in the
right light, we wish to advise you that all of our Operatives are
instructed to accept the office of Recording Secretary if possi-
ble; as the Recording Secretary has nothing to do with agita-
tion, simply keeping the records which are valuable to us, and
from which we obtain all our information. You will understand
that if No. 20 is elected to this office he will be in a position to
give the name and record of every man who belongs to the

SMASH THE UNION! 11

union, and as to whether or not he pays his dues, and attends
the meetings regular, and all the inside information that we
desire.

The only office in the Union that we bar our men from ac-
cepting is that of Business Agent. The Office of Business Agent
is the only office in the union, which can harm the mills, as it is
the duty of the Business Agent to induce the men to join the
Union, and as it is not our policy to induce men to join the
Union, but to endeavor to keep them from joining, our Opera-
tives are naturally barred from accepting the office of Business
Agent . . .

We trust that you will fully understand this matter and if
No. 20 is elected, he will be instructed to take any orders from
you which you may think will benefit the mill and endeavor to
carry them out in the Union, and as an Officer in the Local his
views will carry more weight with your men than they would
otherwise.

That was written in 1919. The Foster Service letter was written
in 1920. Has the service changed much since then? Not very much
according to Mr. James H. Smith, president of the Corporations
Auxiliary Co. He ought to know because he has been in the business
about 40 years. Senator La Follette asked Mr. Smith, when he was
on the witness stand, whether there had been many changes since
he originally came into the business. Here is his answer, "Well,
I think it has changed slightly, but not very much. We have gone
into the efficiency end of it more definitely and particularly as the
years have gone by."

But though the business hasn't changed much the method of
describing it has. The agency heads no longer commit themselves as
openly as they once did. They rarely make the mistake of allowing
themselves such complete frankness as in the past. In 1910 the
Corporations Auxiliary Co. could inform a client that "wherever
our system has been in operation for a reasonable length of time,
considering the purpose to be accomplished, the result has been

12 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

that union membership has not increased, if our clients wished
otherwise. In many cases local union charters have been returned
without publicity and a number of local unions have been dis-
banded. We help eliminate the agitator and organizer quietly and
with little or no friction."

But in 1937 Mr. Smith wasn't writing or talking so plainly. He
was much more guarded. When he was asked to describe his agen-
cy's work at the La Follette hearings, he talked glibly about selling
the services of his "industrial engineers" but he had to admit
that not one of his men was an engineer. Here is Mr. Smith on the
witness stand:

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. What type of business are these com-
panies engaged in, Mr. Smith?

MR. SMITH. They are engaged in the business of assisting
manufacturers in increasing and improving their products both
in quantity and quality and reducing their operating costs.
That is their primary business.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. And how is that accomplished?

MR. SMITH. Well, it is accomplished on a very simple process.
We feel that in order to get efficiency and to get a good product
the first thing you have to have is harmony, if you can possibly
get it, because without harmony you get no efficiency or any-
thing else, and therefore we sometimes say we assist in harmon-
izing conditions in a plant.

The change from 1910 is apparent. Then you knew without any
question what service Corporations Auxiliary performed. In 1937,
Mr. Smith uses honeyed words, "we assist in harmonizing condi-
tions in a plant." That sounds nice but what does it mean? The
testimony of Mr. Herman Weckler, vice president and general
manager of the De Soto Motor Corporation, a Chrysler subsidiary,
gives us a clue. Remember that the Chrysler Corporation was Cor-
poration Auxiliary's biggest customer:

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Did you receive reports and did
these reports, while you were receiving them, give information

SMASH THE UNION! 13

on meetings of union locals in which employees of the Chrysler
plants were members ?
MR. WECKLER. Yes, sir.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Did you receive reports on meetings
of the district council of the United Automobile Workers?

MR. WECKLER. I think I have seen one or two of those, yes.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. And did they report on the meetings
of the Society of Designing Engineers?

MR. WECKLER. I saw reports from the Society.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Through these reports, then, it is a
fair statement to say that you are kept fully informed as to
the strategy and plans of these locals and this district organi-
zation, is it not?

MR. WECKLER. Yes, sir.

If you want convincing proof of how very well informed Mr.
Weckler was of the union activities of the auto workers, just turn to
Appendix B, and read the kind of detailed spy report he was re-
ceiving from Corporations Auxiliary. From Mr. Weckler's testi-
mony and from this sample spy report, we gather that Corporations
Auxiliary's 1937 model of "harmonizing conditions," was in no
sense different from its 1910 model of union-smashing.

Mr. Smith, president of Corporations Auxiliary, was an unwilling,
evasive witness. His general manager, Mr. Dan Ross, was more
willing but equally slippery. Mr. Ross picked up Smith's "harmon-
izing conditions," and added to it "promoting efficiency" as his
descriptive term for the spying activities of his stool-pigeons. Like
Smith, Ross was careful to talk all around the subject but very little
directly on it. But both Smith and Ross were long-winded as com-
pared to the tight-lipped Pinkertons. The heads of this agency
doing a million dollar a year business could remember almost noth-
ing at all, and what they did remember always had precious little
to do with reporting on the union activities of their clients' workers.

i 4 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

One afternoon when six of the agency heads were sitting on the
stand tossing the questions around to one another in their usual
fashion, a newspaper man sent up a note to Mr. Robert Wohlforth,
the able secretary of the committee: The note read,
Six little Pinks sitting in a row.
Six little Pinks and none of them know.
That's bad poetry but it's good reporting. Judge for yourself:

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Mr. Pinkerton, will you take a look
at that exhibit, please [Pinkerton journal sheet], and tell me
what kind of information you would say the agency would try
to get for the United States Rubber Reclaiming Company?

MR. PINKERTON. Information dealing with sabotage, theft of
material, and other irregularities.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. What would you include under
"sabotage"?

MR. PINKERTON. Damage to company property.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Anything else ?

MR. PINKERTON. No, not if you take that in a general term.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. It goes on to say " also thefts of ma-
terial." That is pretty obvious. But what about "and other
irregularities"? What would you say that includes?

MR. PINKERTON. That could include a great many things.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. What would it usually include?

MR. PINKERTON. Probably discrimination, favoritism by the
minor officials in the plant, and violation of rules and regula-
tions.

[Senator La Follette then reads a report of a Pinkerton spy,
dated May 16, 1936, describing a union meeting* attended by
some workers of the United States Rubber Reclaiming
Company, Buffalo, N. Y.]

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Would you say that this report had
to do with investigation of sabotage of the company's property,
theft or other irregularities?

* Italics here and throughout the book are the author's.

SMASH THE UNION! i

MR. PINKERTON. No, Sir.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. What would you say, Mr. Rossetter,
about that?

MR. ROSSETTER [vice president and general manager]. I
would say that it did not touch those points, but my impression
is that that was a "Red" organization. I am not familiar with
the names of the different units comprising the Communist
Party or its supporters, but that report would cover

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE (interrupting). Would you say it had
anything to do with the investigation of sabotage of the com-
pany's property, theft of materials, or other irregularities?

MR. ROSSETTER. It might lead to sabotage if those people
were the kind that I think they may be Communists.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Now, Mr. Rossetter, isn't it true that
the description, in the Pinkerton journal, of sabotage, theft and
irregularity, often actually covers up investigations to be
made of union activities?

MR. ROSSETTER. Well, if you can take that as a sample, I
will have to say "yes" to it ...

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. As a matter of fact, did not the
agency undertake to report on the activities of unions within
this plant and organizational efforts of the client's employees?

MR. ROSSETTER. I have no personal knowledge of that, Sena-
tor. I could not say one way or the other.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Do you know about it, Mr. Dudley?

MR. DUDLEY [assistant general manager]. The only ones who
would know about that, I presume, would be the division
manager and the superintendent.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Do you think the client would know
what he hired you for, Mr. Pinkerton?

MR. PINKERTON. I should think he would; yes, sir.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. I now offer an exhibit. It is a letter
from L. J. Plumb, of the United States Rubber Reclaiming Co,
to Charles F. Smith, dated August 5, 1935, re Pinkerton

16 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

Agency. It is on the stationery of an interoffice memorandum
and is as follows:

"I have yours of the 2nd in reference to this subject. You do
not, however, tell me whether they have given you any in-
formation of value or importance.

"What have their reports amounted to?

Very truly yours,
U. S. RUBBER RECLAIMING Co., INC.

L. J. Plumb, President: 9

On the back of this exhibit ... is the reply:

8/6/35

"Dear Mr. Plumb: The information contained in the Pinker-
ton reports has not resulted in any direct saving or profit.
They cover the activities of both unions and report any meet-
ings or other activities involving our employees or the rubber
workers in this district. As stated in my letter of August 2nd I
consider this about the best arrangement that we could make
for being informed of such activities.

C. F. SMITH"

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. It would indicate that your client,
Mr. Pinkerton, was actually interested in organizational
activities, would it not?

MR. PINKERTON. Yes, sir; it would.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. And it is obvious that your Buffalo
office agreed to furnish the names of the employees of the client
who were active in union activities, is it not?

MR. PINKERTON. This does not say that any names of em-
ployees are being furnished.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Well, did they furnish that informa-
tion?

MR. PINKERTON. I do not know.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Well, let us read this next exhibit:

SMASH THE UNION! 17

"Informant reports:

Tuesday, March 19, 1935.

"At headquarters of the Rubber Workers' Industrial Union
and the Trades Union Unity League, Charles Doyle, J. J.
Kissell, Angello Bustini, and several other members were heard
to say a meeting of the employees of the U. S. Rubber Reclaim-
ing Co. was held secretly at Liberty Hall, Jefferson and Bristol
Sts., last evening, which was well attended and three members
enrolled.

"It was learned that B. Brewer, Earl Ericks, John Jackson,
Willard Dunsmore and Herbert Zmanski, all employees of the
U. S. Rubber Reclaiming Co., have agreed to serve on the
organization committee."

Now the fact that the Pinkertons thus tried in every way to con-
ceal the true character of their "industrial service" is not impor-
tant. What is important is for us to understand what the nature of
that work was. There is no doubt that some of the operatives were
indeed reporting on "sabotage, theft, and other irregularities."
There is also no doubt that many of the operatives were reporting
on the union activities of the workers. The record shouts the story
spy agencies are hired primarily for the purpose of keeping the
employer informed of any and all attempts on the part of the work-
ers in a plant to better their conditions through organization; and
to use any means, fair or foul, to destroy that organization.

For further proof let us turn to the testimony of the men who did
the job, the spies themselves. Mr. William H. Martin was a Pinker-
ton operative for seven years, from 1928 to 1935. Here is part of his
sworn testimony:

SENATOR THOMAS. What was your next industrial job, Mr.
Martin?

MR. MARTIN. That was with the Harmony Bus Line, Pitts-
burgh, Pa.

SENATOR THOMAS. Detailed for what purpose?

MR. MARTIN. Detailed by Mr. Reed, superintendent at

1 8 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

Pittsburgh, to ride a certain man named McDonald, who was
a bus driver for this company, ride him out of town for about a
40 minute ride to Allison Park. I was to get acquainted with
him, start talking to him, get some information as to what they
were doing, whether they were organizing, who the men were
that were going to join the union, anything I could get pertain-
ing to their unionization.

SENATOR THOMAS. Did you know who Mr. McDonald was?

MR. MARTIN. I had heard he was the chairman of the organiz-
ing committee for this company.

SENATOR THOMAS. You definitely realized you were on a
labor spying job ?

MR. MARTIN. YeS, Sir.

SENATOR THOMAS. Did Reed tell you why he wanted the
information ?

MR. MARTIN. Mr. Reed said they were having some trouble
over there, the men were going to organize and the company
was not in a position to pay union drivers.

SENATOR THOMAS. The trouble was that the men were going
to organize?

MR. MARTIN. YeS, Sir.

SENATOR THOMAS. That was conceded as a trouble?

MR. MARTIN. Yes, sir; and they wanted some information to
do away with that.

SENATOR THOMAS. What kind of information were you in-
structed to obtain, definitely?

MR. MARTIN. To obtain information as to who the men were
that were going to join the union . . .

The General Motors Corporation and its subsidiaries were clients
of the Pinkerton Agency. One of the workers in the Chevrolet plant
in Atlanta, Georgia, was Mr. Lyle Letteer, the son of the assistant
superintendent of the Atlanta office of the Pinkerton agency. In
April 1934 he was employed as a Pinkerton spy while continuing

SMASH THE UNION! 19

his work in the plant. Mr. Letteer was instructed to join the union
and report on its financial condition, its paid-up members, and the
names of the Chevrolet employees who were union members. He
was told to get himself elected as an officer in the union and make a
detailed report on its secret meetings. In the summer of 1935 he was
able to perform a major stroke as a spy. The other officers of the
union were attending a convention in Detroit and Mr. Letteer
was left in charge of the office. What a break! That he made the
most of his opportunity is plain from his sworn testimony:

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Did you take advantage of that
situation of being left as the sole person in charge and responsi-
ble for these records, to make use of them for Pinkerton?

MR. LETTEER. I took advantage to this extent, that after ask-
ing Littlejohn [Pinkerton superintendent] what he wanted to
know and receiving his answer, I went to the labor office and as
I was going to close up for the night I would take all the rec-
ords, including the ledger and everything, whatever he called for
for that day, take it to the office, and we would make copies
that night.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. You mean to the Pinkerton office?

MR. LETTEER. Yes, Sir.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Then you returned the records to the
office the next morning?

MR. LETTEER. Returned the records to the office next morning.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. State, if you know, what use the
Pinkerton Agency made of all this information that you were
able to get as a result of your position of trust in this union?

MR. LETTEER. The exact use of it I could not say but it
seemed to be pretty hot as far as Littlejohn would say.

The scene now shifts to Michigan. Pinkerton still on the job for
General Motors. Mr. Lawrence Barker of Detroit is taken on as a
Pinkerton spy (after a few months, he confessed to the union
officials and two letters are in the record attesting their faith in
him) and is planted in the Fisher Body factory in Lansing. His

20 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

superior officer is Mr. R. S. Mason, assistant superintendent of the
Detroit office of the Pinkerton Agency. We learn from Mr. Mason's
talks with Mr. Barker that pinching the records from a union office
is only one way of keeping tab on union activities there are other
Pinkerton methods, equally efficient. Here is Mr. Barker on the
witness stand:

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. In these discussions that you had
with Mr. Mason, did you get the impression or did you know
that he knew a good deal about the activities of the interna-
tional union, as well as the various locals?

MR. BARKER. He did seem to know quite a bit about the
activities of the international.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Did he ever tell you how he happened
to know so much about the union and its activities?

MR. BARKER. Yes, sir, he said that they had a dummy office
in the Hoffman Building [United Automobile Workers Asso-
ciation headquarters in Detroit], that the telephone there was
tapped, and also President Martin's telephone was tapped at
his home. That they knew everything about him and every
move they would make.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Mr. Barker, as the result of your ex-
perience as an undercover operator, informant and spy, what is
your impression about the effectiveness or lack of effectiveness
of this labor espionage work in breaking up or preventing
unions, genuine labor unions, from organizing?

MR. BARKER. It is very effective, especially in the local to
which I belonged . . . One time at Lansing-Fisher they were
almost i oo per cent organized. And finally it went down to
where, as I said, there were only five officers left.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. You attribute that to undercover
operatives ?

MR. BARKER. Yes; I do.

SMASH THE UNION! 21

Mr. Barker testifies, from experience, that labor espionage has
been very effective in breaking up unions. He gives, as an example,
the smashing of the Lansing-Fisher local. Affidavits of similar hap-
penings in other unions are strewn throughout the pages of the
record. From the testimony of Robert Travis, organizer for the
United Automobile Workers, the committee learned of a Federal
Labor Union in Flint, which had shrunk from a membership 0/26,000
in /PJ5, to 122 in 1036 wrecked by union officials who were spies.

The spy who has become an official in the union is, of course, in a
key position to wreak havoc with the organization. The more
capable he is, the more dangerous he is. Some spies have been able
to reach the top and all the way up they have been doing their
deadly work. William Green, president of the A. F. of L., testified
that a spy named L. E. Woodward had become president of the
Savannah Trades and Labor Council, vice president of the Georgia
Federation of Labor for 4 years, and had even been nominated for
president at the state convention of the A. F. of L. ! His reports,
meanwhile, went regularly through the Pinkerton Agency to the
Savannah Electric and Power Company, and probably, to every
other company in Georgia that subscribed to the Pinkerton
service.

The extent to which labor unions are infected with the plague of
spies is so widespread as almost to exceed belief. If some of the
authentic tales had been invented they could not have sounded
more fantastic. The following story, however, has been proven true:
in November 1935, the American Federation of Labor, in an effort
to collect all the information it could about spies, sent a question-
naire to its locals throughout the country. Here are the questions
asked and the answers received from Local 18920, in Hartford,
Conn.:

American Federation of Labor Questionnaire November 30,

i . What spy and strikebreaking agencies operate in your ter-
ritory or industry? A. Pinkerton's National Detective

22 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

Agency, R. W. Bridgman Detective Bureau, Hartford Private
Detective Bureau (listed from phone directory).

2. Which are most active since the passage of the Wagner
Act ? A. No knowledge.

3. Give names of agencies, addresses and, if possible, names
of chief officers. A. See no. I.

4. How many operatives or spies do agencies have ? A.
No knowledge.

5. What exposures of spies among your membership have
been made by your union? Or in the courts? A. None in our
local. One employee of Fuller Brush Company exposed as spy.

6. If possible, give full account of facts. A. All facts in
possession of President W. Kuehnel, Hartford Central Labor
Union.

7. What activities are spy agencies carrying on? A. No
knowledge.

8. Have they organized 'citizens* committees'? A. Not
to my knowledge.

9. What industrial concerns are known to have employed
spy agencies ? A. Fuller Brush Company.

10. What precise information have you as to large industrial
concerns' own spy system ? A. None.

11. Which agencies at present supply strikebreakers? How
many have they recruited (give instances) ? A. None, to
best of my knowledge.

Re resolution no. 168.

Name of union: Typewriter Workers Local No. 18920.

Secretary: F. A. Roszel.

Address: 2 Wolcott Avenue, Wilson, Conn.

Notice that the secretary of this Hartford local is not very helpful
more than half the questions are answered "no knowledge."
This reply was received at A. F. of L. headquarters on December
n, 1935. One week later the picture of Mr. F. A. Roszel, the secre-
tary of the local, was published. He was a spy. When he came to

SMASH THE UNION! 23

Hartford in 1934, the paid membership of the local of which he later
became secretary was 2500. In less than one year, the paid member-
ship had dropped to 75, with a regular attendance of not more than
8 or 10 members! Mr. Roszel had done a swell job for the Interna-
tional Auxiliary (a subsidiary of Corporations Auxiliary).

There is bitter irony in this story of an A. F. of L. questionnaire
on spies being answered by a union secretary who was himself a
spy. Equally ironical and significant was the evidence given
by Mr. Matthew Smith, general secretary of the Mechanics Educa-
tional Society of America, a union of tool and die makers, to Presi-
dent Roosevelt's joint N.R.A. and Labor Department inquiry into
employment stabilization. The New Tork Times of December 17,

1934, reported Mr. Smith as testifying that "several weeks ago he
had inadvertently lost a copy of the minutes of his union meeting
and he had received an even more detailed statement of what had
transpired at the meeting from a detective agency which had * cov-
ered' the meeting through its own operative"!

Was it merely a coincidence that of the 30 operatives employed
out of the Cleveland office of Corporations Auxiliary in November

1935, "23 were members of unions, 2 were not members of unions
at the plant, and the remaining 5 were non-union men employed at
plants where no union had been organized"?

The Pinkertons, according to a schedule they themselves sub-
mitted to the committee, did not have as high a percentage of their
operatives in unions, but what their operatives lacked in union
affiliations, they made up in influence as high ranking union officials.

The summary of this schedule, prepared by Pinkerton's Na-
tional Detective Agency, Inc. [March 16, 1937] is as follows:
Total number of secret sources carried under arbitrary or
secret designations 303.
Of this number,

132 are members of trade unions,

43 are members of company unions or employee repre-
sentation plans.

24 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

Of those who are members of trade unions
6 hold office as president

5 " " " vice president
i holds " " treasurer

3 hold " " secretary

9 " recording secretary

6 " " "trustee

i holds " business agent

3 hold " organizer

3 " delegates to the central labor union
i holds " chairman shop committee

4 hold " commit teemen

i holds " financial secretary

3 hold " members of executive board

i holds " division chairman

Of those who are members of company unions or employee
representation plans

i holds office as president

3 hold " " recording secretary

i holds " " chairman

i holds " " department representative

Forty-seven Pinkerton spies, or more than % of the total number
in trade unions, according to their own list, hold office in the union.
Is there any question that spy agencies are hired primarily for
Union-Prevention and Union-Smashing ?

In any case, of one thing we may be certain employers who buy
the service of the agencies know what they are paying for. And
when r the agency can't deliver the goods, or where workers are not
organizing, then the service is discontinued. Corporations Auxiliary
found that out. On July 6, 1936, one of its salesmen, D-H, wrote a
letter to his head office telling of a conversation he had had with
Mr. F. W. Marcolin, the Store Superintendent of the Bailey Com-
pany in Cleveland. Mr. Marcolin told him that the Bailey Company
was going to discontinue the service of Corporations Auxiliary.

SMASH THE UNION! 25

D-H asked him why "and he stated they did not think at the pres-
ent time the expense was justified and the information they were
receiving was not worth $200.00 a month. Said they had no com-
plaint about the service but the operator had not gotten into the
union and all the information he was able to gather covered daily
routine. Some suggestions had been good but not worth the expense,
also there was apparently no union activity and they had decided to
discontinue"

The Pinkerton agency met with a similar unhappy experience.
They found that employers were not interested in their spy service
unless they could take some action on the organizational activities
of their workers. Mr. Meinbress, the superintendent of the San
Francisco Pinkerton office, reported the sad news he had received
from the general manager of the Western Pacific Railroad:

Former client, friendly, said under the Eastman control they
cannot discharge for labor activities, he knows pretty well who
the agitators are but cannot help himself so does not believe in
spending money at present for secret work when he cannot act on
the information. I will keep up contact.

J. C. MEINBRESS,
Official, San Francisco Office.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Now apparently from this solicitor's
report, while Mr. Eastman was coordinator, Mr. Meinbress
found that under that situation employees of railroads are ex-
tended the same protection of the Wagner Labor Relations
Act, since it extends to all employees, did he not, Mr. Pinker-
ton?

MR. PINKERTON. Yes, sir; it appears so.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. So it would appear from this super-
intendent's report that when your clients cannot discharge men
for union activities, they have no use for your services, is that
right?

MR. PINKERTON. I don't think that is always true; no, sir.

26 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. I did not ask you if it was not always
true. I asked you if it was not true.

MR. PINKERTON. It appears from this report to be true.

Had all employers of labor been as careful to obey the law as the
general manager of the Western Pacific, then, in truth, the Pinker-
tons would have been in a bad way. But fortunately for the Pinker-
tons, this was not the case. Just as the Railway Labor Act extended
protection to railway employees so the National Labor Relations
Act (popularly known as the Wagner Act), extended that protec-
tion to other workers in July 1935. The intent of Congress in passing
the Wagner Act is plain, the language is simple and easy to under-
stand:

Sec. 7. Employees shall have the right to self-organization,
to form, join, or assist labor organizations, to bargain collec-
tively through representatives of their own choosing, and to
engage in concerted activities, for the purpose of collective bar-
gaining or other mutual aid or protection.

Sec. 8. It shall be an unfair labor practice for an employer
(i) To interfere with, restrain, or coerce employees in the
exercise of the rights guaranteed in section 7.

It was a similar provision in the Railway Labor Act, plus the
power of the strong railway unions, which kept the Western Pacific
from hiring the Pinkertons. But many other employers throughout
the country felt no such restraint. They did hire the Pinkertons and
other agencies. And they did "interfere with, restrain, or coerce
employees" in the exercise of their right to join unions. These
employers were advised by eminent lawyers that they need not pay
any attention to the Wagner Act because in their august opinion,
the Act was unconstitutional. The National Committee of Lawyers
of the American Liberty League, for example, took it upon itself to
declare the Act unconstitutional. The Supreme Court of the United
States, however, thought otherwise. On April 12, 1937 the Court
declared the National Labor Relations Act constitutional. The 58
Liberty League Lawyers were in error.

SMASH THE UNION! 27

One of the 5 cases that reached the Supreme Court in the Wagner
Act decision was the Fruehauf Trailer Co. case. Unlike the Western
Pacific, the management of this company felt that it did have the
right (despite the Wagner Act) to discharge "agitators", i.e.,
union men. So it hired the Pinkerton agency to spy on its workers.
The Pinkertons obliged. On complaint of the union, the members
of the National Labor Relations Board examined the evidence and
came to this conclusion: "The Board found that the workers had
been discharged because of their union activity and that the com-
pany's policy was to disrupt the local of the United Automo-
bile Workers Federal Labor Union and so to defeat collective
bargaining."

How was this done? Excerpts from the Board report show the
steps. First, Martin, a Pinkerton spy is given employment in the
plant. "He thereafter joined the union and eventually became its
treasurer. He was thus able to procure a list of all the members of
the union. He made reports more than once a week to the respond-
ent [Fruehauf Trailer Co.], and the lists of members which he
furnished were given to the respondent's superintendent, Halpin.
With these lists in his hand Halpin went about the factory from
time to time and warned various employees against union activities.
The result of Martin's activities caused suspicion, unrest, and con-
fusion among the employees . . . Completely armed by Martin
with the necessary information the respondent determined to put a
stop to all attempts on the part of its factory workers to form an
efficient independent bargaining agency, and in furtherance of that
purpose summarily discharged nine men and threatened three
others with discharge ... As to the discharges we find: Nicholas
Trusch was employed as a carpenter in the body shop of the re-
spondent for five and a half years and had a good record, no fault
ever having been found with his work or conduct. His foreman,
Rosenbusch, asked him on July 15, 1935, 'Do you want your
job or your union?' When Trusch replied that he would not give up
the union he was discharged between 9 and 10 in the morning of
the same day . . . We find that Trusch was discharged for the

28 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

reason that he joined and assisted the union." The Board takes up
the cases of the nine men, one by one, and its closing sentence is the
same every time, "discharged for the reason that he joined and
assisted the union." Here in graphic detail, in this N.L.R.B. re-
port, is the story of industrial espionage.

Not the whole story, however. There's one other angle. The dis-
charged men can find no other jobs they are blacklisted every-
where, because they dared to join the union. They are thrown on
the public relief rolls. Let Mr. Edwin S. Smith, member of the
N.L.R.B. appointed by the President, tell the tale: "I have never
listened to anything more tragically un-American than stories of
the discharged employees of the Fruehauf Trailer Co., victims of a
labor spy. Man after man in the prime of life, of obvious character
and courage, came before us to tell of the blows that had fallen on
him for his crime of having joined a union. Here they were
family men with wives and children on public relief, blacklisted
from employment, so they claimed, in the city of Detroit, citizens
whose only offense was that they had ventured in the land of the
free to organize as employees to improve their working conditions.
Their reward, as workers who had given their best to their employer,
was to be hunted down by a hired spy like the lowest of criminals
and thereafter tossed like useless metal on the scrap heap."

You can see from the tone of his testimony that Mr. Smith is
angry because he thinks an injustice was done. He was disturbed,
too, because he saw in labor espionage a danger to our democratic
institutions. He said as much at this hearing in April 1936. That
was before the sit-down strike at General Motors and Chrysler
occurred, and it should be full of meaning to those people who
cannot understand why American workers have become so militant.
Here is Mr. Smith's warning, "The aims of one group may be
cordially detested by another, but for the stronger group to suppress
the minority's right to express its opinion is to suppress democracy
itself. Those who would encroach upon the civil liberties of any
group are playing with dangerous and destructive fire. Democ-
racy may be attacked from the right as well as from the left. The

SMASH THE UNION! 29

denial of civil liberties is itself an important step toward revolu-
tion."

It's a familiar and oft-repeated story this suppression by the
stronger group, of the workers' right to organize. In Duquesne, in
1919, the minute any labor organizers stepped into the town they
were clapped into jail. The mayor there boasted that no union
could hold a meeting in Duquesne even if Jesus Christ were the
organizer. And in Homestead, in 1933, Secretary of Labor Perkins
found that the streets and parks and halls were closed to her the
only place she could meet with a committee of steel workers was in
the U. S. Post Office ! This sort of thing is still true in many parts
of the United States in 1937 in spite of the Wagner Act. Unfortu-
nately we cannot devote adequate space in these pages to these
open violations of the workers' right to organize. Here we are con-
cerned with the undercover violations, the wrecking of unions
through the use of spies, as in the Fruehauf Trailer Co. case.

You can easily imagine what the effect of industrial espionage has
been on the workers. They don't have to read about stool-pigeons
to know about them they know about them from sad experience.
It is for that reason that many of them who see the necessity for
joining a union, hesitate to do so. They are afraid. George A. Pat-
terson, a steel worker, told the committee, " that there is an espion-
age system in the steel plants ... is common talk amongst the
employees at all times. They know it, and they feel it. They feel
that at all times they are being watched. As we have tried to organ-
ize, many a man would say 'We would like to come in, but it is just
as much as our job is worth to join up.' They have said that many
times. I can say that they are truthful in their opinion about that,
because when we go around with the applications and ask the men
to come into the organization they talk about stool-pigeons, and
so on."

Only through organization into unions can the workers protect
their own interests. When N.I.R.A. gave them this right in 1933,
the employers fell back on an old scheme to take the teeth out of
such organizations. "The men have a right to organize? O.K. Let

30 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

them organize. We will even help them we'll give them a plan
for organization and put up the money to foot the bill. We'll back
the men to the limit in forming unions company unions."

It was truly amazing with what speed company unions sprang
into existence in industries hitherto unorganized. N.I.R.A. was
passed June 16, 1933. Before the end of the month plans for the
formation of company unions were announced in the plants of
U. S. Steel, Republic Steel, Weirton Steel, and Jones and Laughlin.
The automobile industry showed the same lightning-like speed in
the organization of company unions. The N.R.A. code in autos
was approved on August 27, 1933. Ten days before, Chevrolet,
Buick, Fisher Body and other General Motors subsidiaries had
perfected their "representation" plans; the Chrysler Corporation
followed in October.

From all this undue haste, and from the fact that the employers
were behind the company union plans, it becomes obvious even to
people inexperienced in labor matters, that there must be some-
thing fishy about company unions. There is. In a study called
"The Economics of the Iron and Steel Industry," financed jointly
by the Brookings Institution and the Falk Foundation, one
sentence gives the whole show away: "The evidence shows con-
clusively that the great majority of the plans (company unions)
were favored and fostered by the companies in order to forestall
outside unionization. 1 ' The cat's out of the bag. Here is the reason
why some of the steel companies have been paying out a quarter
of a million dollars every year to finance their company unions.

Company unions have been set up "to forestall outside unioniza-
tion." But, as we have seen, Union-Prevention is part of the
province of the private detective agencies. Are they left out in the
cold ? Not on your life. They are specialists in every kind of Union-
Prevention. If it's company unions that are necessary to do the
trick, they are prepared to make that part of their service. Thus the
Butler System of Industrial Survey, New York, advises prospective
clients, "Where it is desired that company unions be formed we
first sell the idea to the workers and thereafter promote its develop-

SMASH THE UNION! 31

ment into completion. Hundreds of such organizations have been
formed by us to date."

Was the Butler System alone in the field? It was not. Railway
Audit, we learn from one of their letters placed in evidence, knew
all of the tricks of the company union game. Mr. L. D. Rice, vice
president and general manager, gives a few pointers to Mr. W. H.
Gray who is out in the field soliciting business. " We have been suc-
cessful in assisting in starting a lot of employees' associations, and I
think that you will find some of the manufacturers interested along
this line. At the present time the non-union employees of Reading,
Pa., get out a semi-monthly paper, and it is a mighty good one. It
combats the union paper. Quite often they expose some of the
things that the unions do. No doubt Mr. Ivey has a copy in Atlanta,
and I am requesting him to send you one so that you can look over it.

"Some of our people are very instrumental in assisting in the
publication of this paper, as well as the entertainment, etc. that
these non-union employees carry on.

"You can also start the same kind of organizations in other tex-
tile plants."

This branch of the agencies' service the setting up of company
unions was a good talking point when business was bad, i.e.,
where there was no "labor trouble." On those occasions spy agen-
cies became "insurance salesmen," according to A. E. Lawson,
formerly secretary of the National Corporation Service. Here is Mr.
Lawson on the witness stand:

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Now, when there were not any labor
troubles, can you tell us how you got business then?

MR. LAWSON. Well, we sold the business on a proposition of
business insurance, "Protect yourself and find out what is go-
ing on in your plant before trouble actually does occur."

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Did you ever have occasions where
the client would be assured in a situation of that kind that
something could be done in the way of helping to build up
company unions ?

32 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

MR. LAWSON. Yes, I know of such cases . . . We put men
in the Newton Steel Company at Newton Falls just after the
plant was reopened for business and formed a company union
there. We also formed a company union in the Taylor Win-
field Company at Warren, Ohio, to of set any possibility of
joining the outside union.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. How did they go about setting up
these company unions, if you know?

MR. LAWSON. Well, they would put one man in as a leader/
furnish him with information as to bylaws and regulations of
the company union.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Who usually prepared the bylaws,
and so forth?

MR. LAWSON. Well, we had probably 15 or 20 different set-
ups from other manufacturing plants.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. You would sell the client the one he
liked best?

MR. LAWSON. We would sell him the one that we thought
would fit the plant best.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. You usually got his approval of it
before you started up?

MR. LAWSON. Oh, certainly.

(That does have a familiar ring, doesn't it? "Do you want an
endowment policy, a 2o-year-life, or an annuity? We are prepared
to sell you exactly the kind of insurance that is best suited to your
needs.")

One other point needs to be cleared up. How were the workers in
the plants persuaded to throw in their lot with the company union?
In many plants they had no choice it was a case of join the com-
pany union or lose your job. But in some plants where the workers
inclined toward their own union, what arguments were used to
swing them into the company union? Mr. C. M. Kuhl, an operative
of fourteen years experience with several agencies, answers that
question. "These inside operators would talk and talk against the

SMASH THE UNION! 33

union, the American Federation of Labor, and use a point similar to
this, ' Well why pay dues to a lot of organizers, presidents, secre-
taries . . . ?'

"And another, 'For instance, if we give a dollar here in our par-
ticular local only a quarter stays here, and so much goes down to
Columbus at the State headquarters and the rest goes to Washing-
ton. So out of an actual dollar we put in the American Federation of
Labor union why we only keep that quarter here. Now, if we keep a
company union we don't pay any dues, and we save those dues,
which will amount to $2 or $3 a month. "

There is little doubt that these were effective arguments. The
growth of company unions after 1933 was tremendous. And spy
agencies played a great part in their formation.

But the growth of legitimate trade unions after 1933 was also
tremendous. This happened in spite of the poisonous activities of
the spy agencies, which were so active in Union-Prevention and
Union-Smashing. American labor after 1933 was on the march and
trade unions were bound to gain strength in the face of any opposi-
tion, no matter how powerful. But had it not been for the under-
cover activities of the detective agencies, they would have grown
even stronger. Of that there is no doubt. Senator La Follette lis-
tened to the evidence for weeks. He was chairman of the committee
that conducted the inquiry. He is in a position to know. Here is his
opinion: "In the light of the testimony this committee has taken,
the evidence is overwhelming, in the opinion of the chairman of this
committee, that the injection of these labor spies in the unions, and
the fact that they come to be in charge of union activities, get to be
officers of unions, cart those records back and forth to the detective
agency offices, report the names of men who apply for membership
to the management of corporations, have demonstrated beyond
any doubt in the minds of any fair-minded persons whatsoever, that
the use of this labor espionage is demonstrated and proved to be one
of the most effective weapons in destroying genuine labor collective
bargaining activities on the part of workers."

III. Spies at Work

SO MUCH FOR what the agencies do. Now how do they do it?
What is the technique for Union-Prevention and Union-Smash-
ing?

Let's begin with the spy. He may be brought into the factory
from the outside and given a job, as Martin, the Pinkerton spy,
was brought into the Fruehauf Trailer plant. Or he may be one of
the men already at work in the plant, who is persuaded or tricked
into becoming a spy. (How that is done is a long and interesting
story which will be told in the next chapter.) But in either case,
whether he is an outside operative brought into the plant, or one of
the workers already there, he does his day's work at the bench or on
the belt just as the other workmen do. Few people in the plant
know who he is maybe only the plant superintendent or the
personnel director. The foreman seldom knows. The workers seldom
know. For the stool-pigeon is one of them a worker. He eats
with them, talks as they do, complains about the same injustices,
goes out with them at night to the movies or to the union meetings.
The workers know only that they are being spied on, but who the
spy is they don't know. After they find out, if they ever do, then of
course it's easy to think back to a hundred and one little incidents
which should have made them suspicious; but before they find
out it's not so easy very often the exposed stool-pigeon is the
man whom they would have least suspected.

It's the spy's job to make friends with as many workers as pos-
sible, win their confidence, and listen to their talk. He must keep
his eyes and ears open at all times and report what he sees and
hears. Here are the specific instructions of the Railway Audit &
Inspection Co. to one of its operatives in a knitting mill:

34

SPIES AT WORK 35

While working in this plant it will be necessary that you do
whatever work you are assigned in such a manner as to be
pleasing to all concerned and not cause you to be laid off
or discharged for not carrying out such orders as are given
you . . .

It will be necessary that you mingle with the employees so
that you can win their confidence to such an extent that the
men will confide in you and will inform you as to just what
they are doing, etc.

It will be necessary that you render a good, detailed, lengthy
report each and every day covering conditions as you find them,
reporting in detail the conversations you hold, those you over-
hear, etc., and try to make each day's work just a little more
interesting than the day's report before, and we feel sure if
you will be observant to all that is going on around you, you
will be able to report many things of value to this client and will
be kept working there indefinitely.

You are to mail your reports promptly to the writer, to Mr.
W. A. Schraisen, post office box 793, Philadelphia, Pa. Do not
hold up your reports and mail them in a couple at a time, but
let them come in promptly each day, so that the client will
receive the information before it is too old.

Report on conditions as you find them, also offer any sug-
gestions you feel will be of value to the client be on the alert
for what is taking place, report all you possibly can learn re-
garding the attitude toward the company, their immediate
superiors, one another, etc. whether there is any union
agitation, etc., any loafing, stealing, waste of time, materials,
etc., how they do their work, the good as well as the bad. On
Sundays and when not working in the plant it will be necessary
that you render a report, and in order to do so, so that the
client can be billed for the day, it will be essential that you
associate with some of the employees outside, i.e., get out
among them, visit them, so that they will be able to obtain
from some of the employees information that you may be able

36 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

to secure in no other way for much information of value to
the client is gained in this way.

Therefore, it is essential that you make as many contacts as
you possibly can, so as to be able to cover as much ground as
you can possibly do, meet some of the employees on your way
to work, in the mornings, also during lunch hour, and on your
way home in the evenings, as well as by making appointments
to meet some of them in the evenings in order to become better
acquainted with them. This you will not be able to do all at
once, but you will gradually work up to this as you become better
acquainted with the various employees, and it is desired that
you start out the first few days easy and not be too forward,
so as to win the confidence of the employees and be able to
continue indefinitely.

The usual practice is for the spy to write a daily report, sign it
with his code number, put it in an envelope without a return ad-
dress, and mail it to a post office box in the city where the agency
official who is in charge of that particular job is located.

The post office box is not rented in the real name of the agency
or of any of its operatives. It is rented under a fake name. The spy
report is picked up each day, brought to the agency office and read
by the agency official who is handling that job. This official then
edits the report. He corrects the spelling and the grammar, elimi-
nates the irrelevant material, and fixes up the report in general.
Sometimes he really fixes it up not only subtracts unimportant
details from the original, but also adds important and untrue
details to the original. Next, the edited report is typed and sent to
the client.

Then what? The axe falls. Before long, the manager may be called
into the superintendent's office and told to discharge John Smith,
Joe Brown, and several others. "But why?" protests the manager.
"Smith is one of my best workers, and Brown is steady and reliable,
he's worked here for seven years. And there's nothing wrong with
the other boys you want me to fire. What's it all about?"

SPIES AT WORK

37

"You're wrong, sir, there is something wrong with all these men.
They're agitators. They're talking union to the men. We can't
have that here. They must go," replies the superintendent. "And
er be sure you don't tell them why you're firing them. Think up
some excuse drunkenness, or being late, or wasting materials
anything. But get rid of them."

Now let's look at the successive steps:

SPY REPORT EN ROUTE

Of course the men who are fired are not fooled by
the manager's lame excuses. They know full well why
they have been fired. The other workers in the plant
know, too. They see that because these men were
union-conscious, or active in the union, they lost their

THE MEN-OUT OF
A J OB AHO PROBABLY
IHACKUSTfD

38 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

jobs. Naturally, these other workers are afraid. When the union or-
ganizer tries to interest them in the union, they shy away. The baby
union is smothered in infancy. Or, if the workers are already mem-
bers of the union, they turn up less frequently at meetings and
after a while, they drop out. The grown-up union is strangled. The
spy has done his job.

Not all of it, however. So far his job has been easy. But he has
other work to do. And this other work is more difficult. Where there
is a union, he must get into it and make it ineffective, cause dissen-
sion, break it up if possible. That's harder. But it is done. Remem-
ber the Flint local of 22,000 in 1935 which slid down to 122 in 1936;
remember Roszel who was able in Hartford, to force a membership
of 2500 down to 75. Exactly how is it done how does the spy go
about sabotaging the union ?

We get a clue from part of a spy report of a union meeting:

Erie, Nov. lyth, 1933.

Local No. 1 01. I. A. of M., met at C. L. U. Hall, 1703 State
at Friday evening.

Meeting called to order promptly at 8 P.M., President C
Hall presiding, Financial Sec'y Henry Searle, also present.
(These two men both work at the Standard Stoker.)

Seven members in attendance.

Communication from grand lodge, acknowledging receipt
of letter from local #101, addressed to Mr. Brown of Cleve-
land, and who is organizer from this district, and asking
the grand lodge to furnish an organizer for Erie, grand
lodge stated the matter was rec'g attention and would answer
later.

No new applications, no initiations.

[It was] Suggested that a comm't'ee of three out of work
members be appointed to act as an organizing com't'ee and
look up several men who had paid in sums of .25 cts to $2. on
applications and had not been heard from since. This com't'ee
was to go out and look these men up and also try to see other

SPIES AT WORK 39

machinists and get them to join the union and to pay their
own expenses and serve without pay.

This was called absurd by Shults, who said if those who
were working were not interested enough in trying to better
their conditions ... it was absurd to think that out of work
members were going to spend time and money trying to or-
ganize, this and the fact that the grand lodge was thinking
the matter over of giving Erie some help in organizing work,
some of the other members then spoke along the same lines
and criticized the grand lodge for not getting on the job and
the matter was allowed to drop, no action taken . . .

D. G.

Here we see the cunning spy carrying on his destructive work in-
side the union. Follow the steps. One of the members has a good
idea. Some of the unionists are out of work nothing to do, and
lots of free time. Let three of them act as a committee whose job it
shall be to bring more members into the union. Let them begin by
rounding up those machinists who have already filed their applica-
tions to join, and have even paid in some money. Obviously all that
these workers need is just one more push and they'll be in the
union. Next, let the committee go after other machinists and try to
get them to join. It's a good idea because if the committee is success-
ful the union will have been strengthened with the addition of new
members; if the committee is unsuccessful, nothing is lost, since the
members of the committee were idle anyway.

Now what happens? Up hops Shults who calls the plan "absurd."
When he is through talking, not only is the matter "allowed to drop,
no action taken," but some of the members have been led to criticize
"the grand lodge for not getting on the job" Net result: plan for in-
creasing membership spiked; also, dissatisfaction with the
grand lodge instilled in the minds of several members. A good
night's work for anyone interested in hurting, not helping the
union.

Who is responsible ? Shults is responsible, according to the report

4 o THE LABOR SPY RACKET

of D. G., the code initial of the spy. But is Shults also a spy? He is.
Shults is D. G., and D. G. is Shults. They are one and the same.
When D. G. here reports on the fine wrecking job done by Shults,
he is boasting about his own exploits.

Now let us attend another meeting of the machinists' local in
Erie, two weeks later. With the help of the report of D. G. (Shults)
we can see what happens:

Erie, Dec. ist, 1933.

Meeting Called to Order by President Hall with eleven
members present . . .

The new officers for the coming year were elected no great
change in personnel, and some of the newly elected men have
not been members a year, the constitution of the machinist
calls for a membership of one year before eligible to hold office,
but the new members looked harmless so thought best not to
object.

Federal Local organizer, Winters, had requested some of the
members to let him come in and explain his pet scheme of
taking all machinist into the Federal Local then telling them
that they must join the machinist Union; the member who
proposed his coming in stated that Winters advised that his
organizing of the Olacker Mfg. Co. was being held up because
the machinist at this plant refused to pay in $5.00 to join the
Machinist Union while it only cost the rest 2.00 to join the
Federal Local, and unless he could take the machinist in at
2.00 he (Winters) couldn't organize the plant. Several members
seemed to think it was all right, but after some discussion a
member (Shults) took the floor and objected to allowing the
man to enter, told them his scheme was unconstitutional and
that he knew it, that the members of this Machinist Local
ought to know if they read the constitution and that any man
who wanted to join a trade and didn't think it was worth 5.00
to belong probably wouldn't amount to much as a member,
and would probably expect the Local to help him get a raise the

SPIES AT WORK 41

first week he belonged, that the thing to do was to settle
it once and for all. Tell Mr. Winters that machinist must
join the machinist local or else they couldn't join anything
in Erie, this action was taken and Winters was denied the
Floor.
Nothing else of interest transpired . . .

D. G.

Thus Shults, the spy, "settles it once and for all." The union
organizer has trouble enrolling new members because the initial
fee is too high; he has a plan to get over this difficulty which he
wants to explain to the local. But Shults is on the job. He is inter-
ested in preventing organization. He defeats the plan by pointing
out that it is unconstitutional. Result? "Winters was denied the
Floor."

Notice that Shults is really no stickler for the constitution. He
uses it only where he needs to. He points out that several of the
newly elected officers of the union have been elected contrary to
the provisions of the constitution but he doesn't object because
"the new members looked harmless."

Everything under control Shults's control. A few more meet-
ings like these two with Shults squelching every proposed scheme
for getting new members, and soon there won't be any members at
all. The union will be dead.

The technique is plain. Shults is obviously bright. He knows how
to talk. He gives plausible arguments. He is ever on the watch
against the interests of the union. And he has applied himself to the
task. How many members of a union ever bother really to learn the
constitution? Very few. The spy does it's part of his technique of
destruction. How many members of a union ever try to become an
officer in the union ? Very few. Most workers are shy, or modest, or
haven't time. Not so the spy. He has the agency's orders to do just
that to become an officer in the union. How many members of a
union care to, or dare to, serve on committees in the union? Very
few. The spy does it's an important part of his technique of de-

42 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

struction. Most union members are quite content to let the other
fellow do the talking and the working they prefer to play a pas-
sive role. But the spy has no choice to do his best work, he must
play an active role. Most workers do not consider that it is their job
to build up and strengthen their union; but the spy knows that it is
his job to tear down and weaken the union. And there's where the spy
has the edge over the honest trade unionists.

Let's watch another spy at work. This time the story is contained
in the sworn affidavit of Charles Killinger, an automobile union
organizer from Michigan:

I, Charles Killinger, being duly sworn, deposes and says:
I have been an active member of the union for the last three
years and am at present a part-time organizer for the union.
John Stott was on the legislative committee of the Amalga-
mated Local #156 and was also chairman of the Welfare com-
mittee. Chairmanship of the welfare committee gave him an
opportunity to visit a number of union people who were sick
at various times. He visited me some months ago when I was
ill, and after consoling with me about my illness, began to
abuse the work being done by Wyndham Mortimer and Rob-
ert Travis, the international organizers who had been sent into
Flint during the summer. The executive board of the Local
#156 was particularly quiescent as far as organization went and
it was the unceasing work of Mortimer and then of Travis
which led to the building up of the union. This was apparent to
everyone but bothered a number of individuals who seemed to
delight in keeping the union as small as possible. On the occa-
sion of his visit to me, Stott said about Mortimer and Travis,
"They are no good. They don't do any work . . . When we
get rid of Mortimer and Travis we will be able to do something
here" . . .

Stott was always very active on the floor of the meetings,
took part in all discussions, but always managed to raise hair-
splitting questions on motions before the assembly, tending to

SPIES AT WORK 43

confuse many of the younger members and to check decisive
action by the union.

CHARLES KILLINGER

Spy Stott's technique is clear from this affidavit. In the last
paragraph, we find him using tactics similar to those employed by
Shults, raising "hair-splitting questions tending to confuse many
of the younger members and to check decisive action by the union."
Anyone who has ever attended a meeting in which endless time is
spent in debating hair-splitting questions knows how very annoying
that can be. If it happens at every meeting and Shults and Stott
were there to make it happen then many of the members begin
to look upon union meetings as a bore to be avoided if possible,
which is exactly what the spies want to accomplish.

Equally annoying, if not more so, is belonging to an organization
which sets up committees to perform certain tasks which somehow
never get done. The spy knows this and frequently worms his way
on to as many committees as possible with the sole purpose of sa-
botaging their work. We learn from Killinger's affidavit that Stott,
the spy, was on both the legislative and the welfare committees.
We learn from another affidavit, that of Walter Reed, active union
member of Local #156, that Stott was also elected secretary of the
negotiating or grievance committee. How did he perform his duties
on that important committee? Reed tells us:

The committee didn't function in spite of the fact that there
were cases to be taken up. October, 1936 we had a meeting of
the Chevrolet unit called by Robert Travis for the purpose of
discussing what grievances they should take up before the man-
agement. The negotiating committee was very insistent that
they should not go down because they had no grievances. We
said that we had general grievances that should be taken up,
such as seniority rights, shop conditions, and hours. The com-
mittee said they wanted individual grievances, signed, and
said that was all they could handle. Even though there were
some men with personal grievances, the committee refused,

44 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

and Stott made a speech saying that these men should not go
down to the management, so nothing was done about it.

What will be the temper of those men with grievances who go to
the committee set up by the union to handle their cases when they
find the committee will do nothing for them? The spy knows that
this "nothing was done about it" is a very effective way of causing
dissatisfaction. Equally effective is Stott's other tactic as chairman
of the welfare committee, that of visiting the members and buzzing
into their ears criticisms of the leadership. Now it is true that the
leadership of many unions is not above criticism. Often the leader-
ship is stupid, self-satisfied, inactive asleep at the switch. Such
leadership should, of course, be criticized severely. But the spy is
not concerned with legitimate criticism where it is truly justified.
He criticizes all leadership but his own one more tactic in his
arsenal of weapons against unions.

We see this clearly in the activity of another spy, Francis Arthur
Roszel. We have met the worthy Mr. Roszel before. In 1935, you
remember, he was secretary of a local in Hartford which he suc-
ceeded in smashing. He was the spy who answered the question-
naire on dick agencies sent out by the A. F. of L. He was exposed
and one year later he turns up again as a member of a local of
the United Automobile Workers in Michigan! Here he continues
his activity as stool-pigeon and union-smasher. Part of another
sworn affidavit shows Roszel at work:

The union organizer connected with the local union at this
plant was and is Stanley Novak. Novak is a Pole. Roszel
continually agitated the members of the union against "foreign"
and Polish leadership in the union, with the quite apparent
objective of creating dissension and causing Novak to be
discredited.

Notwithstanding the fact that Roszel went on the picket line
from time to time during the strike, he continually agitated
among the men, urging them to go back to work. His line was
that the strike had been called by a mere handful of men, that

SPIES AT WORK 45

the members of the Union had not been consulted, etc. Here
again was an attack upon the leadership and an effort to break
the strike.

Shults, Stott, and Roszel were evidently able hard-working
spies, well versed in the tactics best suited to Union-Smashing.
Now try to imagine a man who combines all the "virtues" of all
three of them and you have a picture of Bart Furey, a spy planted
in the Electric Auto-Lite Company of Toledo in 1934. Furey was
Shults, Stott, and Roszel all rolled into one. Like Shults, he was
familiar with the constitution and parliamentary procedure; in
addition, "He knew the international rules; he even knew the inter-
national officers . . . He knew them personally, man to man, all
the international executive officers." Like Stott, he "handled" the
grievances of the men, i.e., he did nothing about them. "It seemed
as if he would go so far but he would not go out of his road to help
these boys on their grievances . . . the grievances would pile up."
Like Roszel in Hartford, Furey became an officer in the union
first, chairman of the executive shop committee, and later president
of the union; like Roszel in Michigan, Furey attacked the leader-
ship witness this sworn affidavit by Edith Roberts:

I had been very active in the union, and was one of the lead-
ers among the girls. I was on the various committees of the
union. But after refusing this offer [Furey asked Miss Roberts
"to become a spy] Furey got after me in the union and told the
others he didn't want me on any of the committees of the
union. He told people not to vote for me, saying to several that
she should not be put on the committee otherwise he would not
serve as chairman since "she was too dumb, she blocks every-
thing I try to put across." He went even further than that,
asking various people around the shop to sign a petition to have
me ousted from my job in the shop.

I told the story of his offer to me to several people in the
union, but he had them so wrapped around his finger that no
one would believe the story. On two different occasions after

46 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

the conversation with him and my refusal of the offer, I have
received anonymous letters which were put under my door
telling me to keep my mouth shut ... I am and was an active
militant union leader among the women in the shop and was
constantly trying to bring the women forward in the union.
Furey did everything he could to get me removed from any
position of influence, after I had turned down his offer.

Also in the record, is another affidavit, by Homer Martin, con-
cerning Furey's many attempts to split up Local 12; and his en-
deavor "in every way possible to write such provisions into the
International Constitution as would completely emasculate the
International Union and create a loosely-federated group of local
unions. This move by Furey was only defeated because of the
staunchness of the other members of that committee."

A very busy spy was Mr. Bart Furey. Let it be said of him, in all
fairness, that he failed in the end, not because of his own weakness,
but because of the strength of some of the union members; not be-
cause he did not take seriously his job of Union-Smashing, but be-
cause opposed to him were some workers who took seriously their
job of Union-Building.

Still another tactic for Union-Smashing is that of robbing the
treasury. Too many one-time members of unions have lost faith in
trade unionism because the treasurer of their local ran off with the
money. Very often that treasurer is a spy. In this connection, two
affidavits are in the record concerning the activities of Richard
Adlen, a spy. "Adlen was . . . always prominent in handling social
affairs and on several occasions wormed his way into a position in
the union where he could handle the finances. He has on a number
of occasions been accused of misappropriating funds or not properly
accounting for funds entrusted to him by the union . . . Adlen
was a part of a committee that handled the finances for a big labor
day picnic in 1934. They were alleged to have made a profit of
$1200.00 and we never could get hold of the accounts. It was in-
vestigated by the union, but only $1.49 was turned in."

SPIES AT WORK 47

Spies are on to the fact that it doesn't take more than one or two
such raids on the union treasury before unions of several thousand
members are shaken down to a handful. Spies are also on to the fact
that while the strike is a useful effective trade-union weapon, an
ill-advised and ill-timed strike is dangerous for a union so they
do what they can to start such strikes. Spies are on to the fact that
for union officials to conclude a sell-out agreement with an employer
destroys the morale of the union members so they do what they
can to effect such agreements. Spies are on to any and every method
of Union-Smashing and Union-Prevention. They do all they can
to make use of those methods.

No recital of spy activities along these lines is complete without
the story of Louis Foster who single-handed, it appears, was able
to forestall the unionization of thousands of workers. This story is
in the record. It is sworn to by John D. Lengel, for eight years the
business agent for the International Association of Machinists in
the northern New Jersey area. Here is part of Mr. Lengel's account
of the activities of spy Louis Foster:

In about May 1934, Louis Foster, without any solicitation
on the part of the union, [local #340, Newark, N. J.], applied
for membership in that local. He stated that he was, at that
time, working in the Worthington Pump Company at Harrison,
New Jersey.

Louis Foster immediately became a very active union member.
He volunteered for work on all Committees and took a very active
part in discussions on the floor during the meetings of the local.
He was a very intelligent and able speaker and was recognized
by the men as having some of the qualities of leadership.

He volunteered for work on the Entertainment Committee to
raise funds for the union. This job involved a lot of work and
time on the part of the member who took the responsibility.
Foster stated that he wanted the roster of members of the local in
order to send out invitations to the entertainment for the purpose of
raising money for the lodge. 'The roster was turned over to him.

48 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

A year later I discovered that the manufacturers in the vicinity had a
complete list of the members of local #340, as of March 1935.
This was the same list that had been turned over to Foster
and could have only been secured through him.

During this year Foster volunteered to be the representative

from the machinists union to the convention of the New Jersey

State Federation of Labor. This position involves personal

expenses on the part of the member who volunteers, but Foster

was willing to assume the expense and the time involved.

The Union, local #340, was having great difficulty in secur-
ing new members. The reason being that the machinists in this
area were of the opinion that they could not be protected in
their jobs if they joined the union. It was common knowledge
that the manufacturers were able to find out which employees had
signed applications in the union and thus discharged them. In
and about September 1935, I held a meeting of the employees
of the Lionel Manufacturing Company of Irvington, New
Jersey. The meeting was held at the Labor Lyceum in Newark.
Foster was present at that meeting and took a very active part in it.
About 1 20 employees attended the meeting out of which about
30 signed applications giving their names and addresses.
About two days after the meeting^ approximately 26 out of the JO
who had given their names and addresses were discharged.
Foster had access to the applications and no doubt turned them
over to the employer.

During this year Foster succeeded in being elected as represent-
ative from the lodge to the District Council of Machinists . About
this time there appeared to be a good deal of internal disputes
within the union. One group in the union contended that I was
not properly fulfilling my duties as business agent and was not
succeeding in getting many new members. Foster took the
leadership of this faction which attempted to oust me as busi-
ness agent . . . However, I was elected. Later in the year,
despite the fact that Foster had been claiming that I was get-
ting too much salary and it ought to be reduced, he made a mo-

SPIES AT WORK 49

tion on the floor that I be presented with $100.00 Christmas bonus
and a new car. This manoeuver on bis part caused considerable
confusion and dissatisfaction in the union.

In the early part of 1936, the union started a campaign to
organize the machinists in the automobile repair companies in
Newark. At our first organizational meeting we had a large
crowd of enthusiastic prospective members. Within a few weeks
every company in which we were able to secure applications, got
information as to which of their employees had signed with the
union and there were wholesale discharges . . .

I have recently discovered that Louis Foster has been in the
employ of the manufacturers in the vicinity by virtue of his
employment as a spy for the International Auxiliary Corpora-
tion. It is now clear to me that he has been responsible for the
prevention of organization in my territory; that he has been a de-
structive force in the union; that he prevented the real organization
for collective bargaining of the 20,000 employees who are eligible
for membership in my territory.

Just look back over the italicized parts of that quotation. Some
of those activities might be indulged in by any honest union mem-
ber. Some of them only a spy would engage in. Take them altogether
and you have almost a perfect picture of the spy technique of
Union-Prevention and Union-Smashing.

IV. The Gentle Art of Hooking

ANDREWS . . . Letteer . . . Martin . . . Shults . . . Stott
. . . Roszel . . . Furey . . . Foster . . . and a host of others
all spies. Capable, energetic men, some of them with real qualities
of leadership all stool-pigeons Why ? What happened to these
competent shrewd men and the thousands of others like them,
which inclined them toward a career of betrayal of their fellow-
workers ?

Some were inclined that way to begin with and welcomed the
opportunity to pick up easy money. Others were unfortunate they
had the bad luck of being so placed that they could be of service to
the spy agencies. It may have been because of the very fact that
they were so smart; it may have been because they held key posi-
tions in the union; it may have been only because they happened
to be working in a particular department in a factory. Whatever
the reason, they were in a position where they could be of use to the
agency. They were needed for a special job.

So they were "hooked."

"Hooking" is the technical term for the conversion, by an agency
operative, of an honest workman into a spy. How is it done ?

Mr. Williams, a worker, comes home some night to find a stranger
in his house waiting for him. The stranger, an affable, courteous
gentleman, says he represents a group of the stockholders who are
interested in finding out whether the plant is being run as efficiently
as possible, whether the management is fair to the men, etc. Would
Mr. Williams be interested in supplying this information which
would be of great use to the stockholders and would harm nobody?
Of course, the stockholders would pay him for his trouble say $15
a week for writing a daily report. Mr. Williams, unsuspecting and

50

THE GENTLE ART OF HOOKING 51

in need of the extra money, agrees. He understands that secrecy
will be necessary because the stockholders do not want to act upon
their findings until they have collected all the facts. So he consents to
write a daily report to a box number in another city. He is paid $15
in cash in advance for the first week and he signs a receipt. All is well.

But not for long. Another week or two goes by and then the stranger
in another visit, suggests that he's slipping his work isn't as good
as it should be. "We want more of what the men are talking about,
any complaints they have, any union activity, etc." At this point,
Mr. Williams may become suspicious and balk at the idea. He may
then be persuaded that clearly he would be doing no wrong if he
wrote his reports as suggested because all that the stockholders are
interested in is tracking down the Communists, agitators, and
troublemakers. So he continues, making his reports "better," as
suggested. The extra money comes in handy all this while so that
when he finally realizes that he has become a paid stool-pigeon it's
hard for him to give it up. He is "hooked."

If, however, he realizes earlier that there is something shady
about the whole business and decides to quit, he may be gently re-
minded that he has been receiving money for spying, and what
would his fellow workers think of him when they are shown his
signed receipts? A strong man faced with this possibility decides to
come clean anyway, tell his fellow workers he has been framed, and
see what happens. A weak man is frightened and remains
"hooked." He works in the plant as before, draws his usual wages
as a workman, and writes daily spy reports on the activities of his
friends in the factory.

The record of the La Follette committee hearings is studded with
cases of such hooking of innocent men. Even the agency heads ad-
mitted it was a common practice with them (though some of them
had an aversion to the term "hooking" they preferred to say
"employing" or "making contact with"). Mr. Kuhl, the operative
with 14 years experience who knows every angle of the business,
was a willing witness he had decided to quit the business. Here is
the record of his testimony on hooking:

52 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Have you ever done any hooking or
roping ?
MR. KUHL. Yes, sir.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. How do yOU do that?

MR. KUHL. Well, first you look your prospect over, and if he is
married that is preferable. If he is financially hard up, that is
number two. If his wife wants more money or he hasn't got a
car, that all counts. And you go offer him this extra money,
naturally you don't tell him what you want him for. You have
got some story that you are representing some bankers or some
bondholders or an insurance company and they want to know
what goes on in there.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. After a fellow gets hooked suppose he
wants to get unhooked; is that difficult for him?

MR. KUHL. Well, if he is a good man and you don't want to
lose him, because they are hard to hook, you will try to keep
him with you. You have his receipts, and probably he will
sign a receipt with a number, and he says "Aw, hell, that don't
mean anything. That is only a number." But still you have his
handwriting where he wrote in his original reports.

Once hooked, it becomes the operative's next job to get himself
elected to some office in the union so he can have ready access to the
names of the members to be reported to the agency to be
reported to the firm to be discharged. Roy Williams was one
such operative. Here is his affidavit:

I, Roy Williams, of my own free will do voluntarily ac-
knowledge I have been in the employ of the Corporations
Auxiliary Corporation as espionage operative and at the same
time and during the same period I was the elected and active
Recording Secy. & Trustee of the Graham-Paige local of the
United Automobile Workers. Signed . Roy WlLLIAMS

Witness: EDWARD AYERS

RICHARD T. FRANKENSTEEN v
L. S. GROGAN

THE GENTLE ART OF HOOKING 53

Richard Frankensteen, one of the witnesses to this confession,
has now become a member of the executive board of the United
Automobile Workers. In his testimony to the La Follette com-
mittee, he made the following statement about Mr. Williams. "He
was, I believe, the best liked and most popular man in Graham-
Paige Motor Company. He worked there for 17 years. He was very
well thought of. He was elected to the position of recording secre-
tary, and this year is chairman of the board of trustees. He had
worked there for 17 years and only during the last 3 years has he
been hired by the Corporations Auxiliary. He was hooked into it.
By that I mean they got him in; they roped him. He did not know
what it was about until they got him in. Then when he tried to
get out I understand that a Mr. H. L. Madison urged him to stay
in told him his work was perfectly all right, that he should stay,
there was nothing wrong, that the Corporations Auxiliary was not
the same type as the other agencies and he should certainly stay
there. So the fellow, after 17 years in the plant, with two children
is out on the street, without a job. I don't know whether the Cor-
porations Auxiliary will take care of him or not.

"That man was not a typical spy. It was not his ambition to be-
come a stool-pigeon, or spy, or, as we call them, a rat. He did not
mean to be that at all, he was just hooked into it."

The Roy Williams tragedy is not unusual. It is typical. An ex-
officer of the National Corporation Service admitted that of some 300
operatives upon whom he had kept records, over 200 were hooked
men. The approach is nearly always the same for all the agencies.
Mr. Gray, roving operative for Railway Audit, is on the stand:

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Now tell the committee, Mr. Gray,
just how you approach these men. For instance, suppose there
is a labor dispute going on and the Railway Audit & Inspection
Co. is assigned to the job by a client. Now just how would
you go about it? Suppose you found the type of man you
thought was all right; just what kind of sales talk would you
give him to get him to be your contact man ?

54 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

MR. GRAY. Well, perhaps I would approach him as an insur-
ance inspector.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. You never revealed your connection,
did you, at the outset?

MR. GRAY. Oh, no.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. As connected with the Railway Audit
& Inspection Co. ?

MR. GRAY. No, sir; no sir.

Notice how positive Mr. Gray is that he never reveals his con-
nection. There's a reason. It's a Railway Audit rule which is made
very plain to all contact men. On May 24, 1935, Gray was reminded
of that rule in a letter from his superior, L. D. Rice, vice-president.
Rice is short and to the point. "As to hooked men ... we never
let them know who they are working for." But Gray is not at a loss
there are plenty of ways of representing himself. He need not
always pose as an insurance inspector. He might be a newspaper
man. Or,

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Have you ever suggested or inferred
that you were representative of minority stockholders that
were dissatisfied with the management ?

MR. GRAY. Well, I might have; yes.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. That is one of the ways, is it not?

MR. GRAY. Yes; that is one of the ways. I might have done
that.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. When the N.R.A. was still a law did
you ever suggest to any of these men that you wanted to con-
tact, that you were kind of checking up to find out how the
N.R.A. was going, and leaving them with the impression that
they might be engaged in a kind of patriotic effort on the part
of the Government ?

MR. GRAY. No, Sir.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. You did not use that?
MR. GRAY. I cannot recall using that one; no, sir.

THE GENTLE ART OF HOOKING 55

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. I am surprised. You seem to be a
very smart man.

MR. GRAY. I am just too smart to use that one, because that is
involving the Government.

Maybe Gray of Railway Audit was telling the truth maybe he
was too smart to pose as a government official. But there is sworn
testimony in the record that a Pinkerton operative did use exactly
that line in trying to hook Charles Rigby, an Auto-Lite worker of
Toledo, Ohio. Rigby would have been a good catch because he was
a militant union man, chairman of his local. Perhaps the Pinkerton
operative, in his anxiety to hook a man especially valuable at that
time because of a strike situation, may be forgiven for not being as
smart as Gray. The testimony of Rigby was particularly dramatic
because the Pink who approached him was in the Senate cham-
ber and heard every word of it. Rigby pointed him out as he
testified.

SENATOR THOMAS. Mr. Rigby, has any attempt ever been
made to hook you ?

MR. RIGBY. Yes, sir; positively.

SENATOR THOMAS. When?

MR. RIGBY. A month and a half after Bart Furey came into
the plant there was a man approached me at my house. He
came into my home and he said he wanted to see me. He was a
very well-educated man, dignified. He said he wanted to see
me about something personal. My wife was sitting there and I
said, "I am sorry but," I said, "I will not talk to you unless
my wife is present." "Well," he said, "All right, it does not
make much difference."

SENATOR THOMAS. Did the man give you his name?

MR. RIGBY. Yes.

SENATOR THOMAS. What was it?

MR. RIGBY. R. L. Bronson. He went on to state he was a
representative of the N.R.A.

56 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

SENATOR THOMAS. He said he represented the N.R.A.?
MR. RIGBY. A representative of the N.R.A.; yes, sir.
SENATOR THOMAS. How could anyone represent the N.R.A. ?
MR. RIGBY. I do not know. He was making investigations, an
investigator of the N.R.A.

SENATOR THOMAS. A Government official?
MR. RIGBY. Yes, sir.

SENATOR THOMAS. Did he mention that he was connected
with the Government?

MR. RIGBY. Yes; that he was compiling statistics regarding
chiseling and where they were paying low wages and they were
working the workers long hours, above the code, and he said
the Government wanted that, and he asked me if I could be of
any service, if I would help him out. I said, "Certainly," I said,
"I don't see any harm in that." I said, "Anything to help my
fellow workers or help the Government," I said, "That is my
duty." He said, "Well, the Government has appropriated so
much money to compile these statistics." I said, "Well, as far
as the money is concerned I would gladly work for nothing in
order to get things straightened out, if I could be instrumental
in doing that I would gladly do it for nothing." He said, "Well,
the Government does not ask you to work for nothing." He
said, "We will pay you $20 a week." He went on and he talked
and talked.

SENATOR THOMAS. By "we" did he mean "we" or the Gov-
ernment will pay you $20 a week?

MR. RIGBY. The Government; the way he talked to me it
was the Government. As I get it, they had to send the highest
official. I never knew it until today, but they sent one of the
highest officials of the Pinkerton Detective Agency to frame
me and my family.

SENATOR THOMAS. Did you ever see Bronson again?

MR. RIGBY. I saw him three times, three or four times, and

THE GENTLE ART OF HOOKING 57

the last time he came to my house I told the business agent [of
the union] . . . and he said, "Charlie," he said, "you have
been framed." Well, after that I thought, "Well, I will see him
again."

SENATOR THOMAS. Did you make any report to Bronson?

MR. RIGBY. Yes; I did.

SENATOR THOMAS. How many?

MR. RIGBY. I made reports for about 4 weeks.

SENATOR THOMAS. Where did you send them ?

MR. RIGBY. I sent them to Book Cadillac Hotel, Detroit,
Michigan.

SENATOR THOMAS. Addressed to whom ?

MR. RIGBY. R. L. Bronson.

SENATOR THOMAS. What did you say in the reports?

MR. RIGBY. I just told him . . . where there was chiseling,
and he said my reports are not satisfactory, that . . . was not
what he wanted.

In the meantime, after this man told me I had been framed,
he came to my house and I looked at him and I started in on
him and I told him plenty. I said, "Mr. Bronson, if it is the
last thing on earth I ever do I will get you, if you ever try to
frame me and my family." He stood there, just looked, a big
yellow rat, you know how they are, and he trembled, and he
said, "Mr. Rigby, if you take that attitude," he said, "we'll
forget the whole matter." I said, "W T ell, if you ever cross my
path or cause my family any trouble," I said, "I will get you,"
and that man is present in this room today, and right there he
is. (indicating).

Tense moment.

What would Bronson say? Would he admit the charge that he
had posed as a government official? Not a chance. The agency
crowd was admitting precious little the truth had to be forced
out of them. Nevertheless, Bronson did confess to a great deal,
enough to substantiate Rigby's story:

58 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

SENATOR THOMAS. Mr. Bronson or Mr. Burnside which is
your proper name?

MR. BURNSIDE. Burnside, Senator.

SENATOR THOMAS. Will you state your occupation . . . ?
MR. BURNSIDE. I am assistant superintendent in the Detroit
office of the Pinkerton Detective Agency.

SENATOR THOMAS. How many names have you used in your
occupation for covering yourself, Mr. Burnside?

MR. BURNSIDE. Oh, I have used a great many names, Senator.
I have been in the agency a great many years and necessarily
our work requires using an alias a great many times.

SENATOR THOMAS. Name some of them.

MR. BURNSIDE. Well I have used the name of Bronson and I
have used the name of Brunswick oh, a number of them. I
generally use a name with the same initials as mine, because it
makes it easy to remember. It is customary in detective prac-
tice.

SENATOR THOMAS. Do you recognize Mr. Rigby?

MR. BURNSIDE. YeS.

SENATOR THOMAS. You heard his testimony?

MR. BURNSIDE. YeS, Sir.

SENATOR THOMAS. Are the things which he has said true?

MR. BURNSIDE. No, sir.

SENATOR THOMAS. In what particular are they not true?

MR. BURNSIDE. Well, in a number of particulars. In the first
place, the fact that he stated I was a Government officer is
incorrect.

SENATOR THOMAS. What did you state you were?

MR. BURNSIDE. I told him that I represented certain people
who were interested

SENATOR THOMAS, (interrupting) What people?

THE GENTLE ART OF HOOKING 59

MR. BURNSIDE. I did not tell him. I was not afraid to tell him
that, because of the nature of the work, but I told him I repre-
sented certain people who were interested in getting this in-
formation that I spoke to him about.

SENATOR THOMAS. Did you represent certain people?

MR. BURNSIDE. I represented ourselves, yes; our agency.

SENATOR THOMAS. Did you imply that those certain people
were people that were interested in the enforcement of the
N.R.A. law?

MR. BURNSIDE. It has been a couple of years ago, Senator.
As I recall it, I told him that we were interested in getting this
information as to the violation of codes, chiseling, and any
discrimination, violations in general of the practices laid down
at that time.

SENATOR THOMAS. Did you ever use the name of the Pinker-
ton Detective Agency in his presence?

MR. BURNSIDE. No.

SENATOR THOMAS. You tried to sneak up on him, as it were,
did you ?

MR. BURNSIDE. Well, "sneak" is not a very pleasant word.

SENATOR THOMAS. Well, name your word for it.

MR. BURNSIDE. I wanted to make sure that Mr. Rigby had
the necessary aptitude, and so on, for our work before I told
him definitely who we were. He appeared to be the type of man
that we could use.

SENATOR THOMAS. You assumed he was worth $20 a week
anyway ?

MR. BURNSIDE. YeS.

SENATOR THOMAS. Is that your judgment?

MR. BURNSIDE. As a preliminary arrangement; yes. He was a
young man who appeared to be highly intelligent, as I presume
you will all grant me, he was a chap that was loyal to his family
all the way through and appeared to be 100 per cent depend-
able and the type of man that I could have used.

60 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

Burnside, Pinkerton operative, was trying to make a spy out of
Rigby. It was not his practice to hook just any worker. Not at all.
Rigby was to be given the honor of spying on his fellow workers
because he was just the right type of man for the job highly
intelligent, loyal, dependable. No ordinary person would do. The
Pinkertons made it a practice, before attempting to make a stool-
pigeon out of an honest workman, to be sure that he was honest.
At least that's their story. Mr. Rossetter, general manager, also
testified that they were concerned about the character of their
informants. "We make inquiries in the neighborhood in which
they live to learn what their standing in the community is, whether
they are considered honest, trustworthy, law-abiding people."
Evidently only the best people were considered qualified for the
job of selling out their fellow workers.

Perhaps it was a coincidence that these best people with good
character were also important in their union. This, the Pinkertons
argued, was of no especial significance, a mere happen-so. Maybe.
Charles Rigby was a prominent union man. And so was Charles
Forwerck, also of Toledo, and also one of Burnside's prospects.
On the stand Burnside told a similar story about his unsuccessful
attempt to hook Forwerck, worker in the Libbey-Owens Ford Glass
Company, and on the executive board of the union. This time, ac-
cording to Forwerck's affidavit, Burnside posed as the representa-
tive of some Detroit attorneys who in turn represented one of the
largest motor corporations. Same palaver about not wanting any
information that would hurt anybody in any way etc. etc.; same
offer of money for the reports this time, however, only $60 a
month (compared to Rigby's $20 a week). It appears that Burnside
underrated this new prospect. There is little doubt that Forwerck
could have made a first class spy; as a matter of fact he did a tip-
top job on Burnside himself! Here is Forwerck's account from the
record:

He did not want to talk in front of my wife, and as a result I
decided to find out what I could about him. After he left the

THE GENTLE ART OF HOOKING 61

house, I saw him walk over toward a car, several blocks away
and I got into my car, turned the corner, and caught up with
him as he was driving in his. I noted down the license number,
an Ohio license, 9562-0. He was driving a 1934 Pontiac sedan,
green-colored. He had previously told me that his name was
Blackburn. I checked his license number with the Automobile
Club in Toledo and discovered that the license had been issued
to Ray L. Burnside, of 4591 Westway. I checked with the
telephone book and found his number to be Lawndale 1565.

Now this, you will grant, was not a bad piece of work for an
amateur sleuth. But just imagine ... if only Forwerck had been
possessed of that extra amount of character which the agency found
a man needed to become a high-grade stool pigeon ! Then, under the
expert guidance of Burnside and the other famous Pinks, what a
career would have been his perhaps he would have become the
greatest labor spy in American history ! How unfortunate that this
worker who had come through the preliminary Pinkerton investi-
gation of his special qualifications of honesty, loyalty and trust-
worthiness, with flying colors, should at the crucial moment fail
them all because of some silly notion in his mind that it was a
dirty trick to spy on his fellow workers.

Don't make the mistake of supposing that the Pinkertons lied
when they said they made inquiries into the character of the men
they were about to hook. They definitely do make an intensive
investigation, as Mr. George A. Patterson, a steel worker at the
Carnegie-Illinois Steel Company in Chicago found out to his
amazement. Perhaps it was again just a coincidence that besides
being a man of good character, Mr. Patterson was also a strong
union man who was both an employees' representative in the com-
pany union and president of the Independent Steel Organization
which rose up in rebellion against the company union. Mr. Patter-
son's story is the familiar one: invalid sister, indicating need of
money; key man in the union; harmless sales talk about reports
that would harm nobody. The only new feature is the surprising

62 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

degree to which Mr. Patterson had been investigated. Mr. Pat-
terson on the witness stand:

On Lincoln's Birthday I returned from work and I found a
heavy burly man in my home. I was quite upset about it. I
wanted to know how this man got in my home. It so hap-
pened that I have an invalid sister who is at home at all times,
and she happened to allow this man in. I felt rather mad to
find this stranger in my house. So I asked him what his
business was. He said he had a proposition to make to me. I
could not understand what he had to do with me. So he took
me aside into my little kitchenette in the apartment and
started a very fluent salesmanship talk. He said that he repre-
sented the Fidelity Bond Company of the Empire State
Building, New York, and he went on to state how interested
they were in trying to increase the profits of the stockholders,
and that he believed that there was trouble between em-
ployees and managers, and that he thought I could help.

I did not say very much but I listened to his story. He was
very forceful, and after a while I asked him what I could do
to help him in any way, he stated that I was a man of very
good character, how they had investigated me and knew I
had worked for almost 12 years with the Illinois Steel Com-
pany the Carnegie-Illinois Steel; it is merged now and
he knew I had been in the roll-shop department; he could tell
all about me . . . He could tell me I was a good church
member, that I was general superintendent of the Sunday
school where I attended, and so on. The man evidently had
investigated my character ... In fact, he knew almost as
much about myself as I did. When he got through he said,
"How would you like to do this for us? We will not ask you to
do anything for us that will get you into trouble. Just go
about your business in the usual way and make reports." By
this time I thought this was a very peculiar situation, and I
felt kind of peculiar. He sort of repulsed me, because I had

THE GENTLE ART OF HOOKING 63

never been approached in any way by anybody like him
before.

Mr. Patterson was evidently a newcomer to the trade union
movement. Probably this was the first time he had held office in
a union. To older, more experienced labor leaders, hooking is not
new. They have known of it for many years and many of them have
met with it, personally. They know how to handle it. They report
immediately to the union.

Mr. Carl Holderman, the district manager for the American Full-
Fashioned Hosiery Workers, had been " contacted" several times
so he knew what to expect when, in 1929, he was visited by a Mr.
Ralph Robinson "representing the American Bankers Associa-
tion." Mr. Holderman was a top ranking officer, not in a local un-
ion, but in the national organization. Don't be surprised, then, to
learn that as vice president of the national organization he was
worth more than the ordinary hooked man. "He offered $150 a
month [more than the others were offered, but not a patch on the
rake-off of James C. Cronin, one-time President of the Central
Labor Union of Philadelphia, who was paid $200 a week for his
services as Operative 03] if I would be willing to supply them with
information as to possible strike situations that might occur in the
near future ... I immediately got in touch with the officers of
our union, and we decided to see what else he had to offer."

Mr. Phil E. Ziegler, the secretary-treasurer of the Brotherhood of
Railway Clerks, was another labor leader who was on to the hook-
ing activities of the spy agencies. When the night watchman of the
building owned by the Railways Clerks informed him that he had
been approached by a Mr. Bradley, Mr. Ziegler knew what to do.
He had Jones play along with Bradley (real name, Samuel H.
Brady, Pinkerton superintendent of the Cincinnati office) until
they got the goods on him. Bradley-Brady pulled the familiar line
with a new slant, "On our Executive Board we have fifty men (50),
we have certain state Senators, Congressmen and many prominent
men such as Charles Evans Hughes, Henry Ford, John D. Rocke-

64 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

feller, Dr. Parkes S. Cadman, Father Ryan, Dr. Finney, the great
surgeon . . ." The union officials were not convinced.

Don't get the impression from these unsuccessful attempts at
hooking, that the agencies always fail. They often succeed. Too
often. Sometimes, as you can imagine, their success means the
ruination of the hooked man's life. Often the men of character
that they so carefully choose, to trick into becoming spies, go stead-
ily to pieces until there is little character left in them. Occasionally
a hooked man is able to break away from the agency, make peace
with his conscience, and start life all over again. More often they
remain trapped. One of the most pitiful instances of the terrible
harm done by hooking is the case of the young man who never
could get over the feeling of horror within himself that he had be-
trayed his fellow workers. Even after making a clean breast of his
spying activities, even after being absolved of all blame by the
union heads, he was so overcome with remorse and shame that if by
chance he would pass a vegetable store window in which the sign
"Northern Spy" apples was displayed, he would break out into
a cold sweat and his heart would pound like a trip-hammer.

Hooking is the method most commonly employed when the
agency finds it necessary to use as its informant one of the workers
already in the factory. But sometimes the plant setup is such that
an outside operative can be brought in without causing undue
suspicion. The agencies usually recruit these outside operatives by
the "blind ad" method:

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. How do you get operatives when
you need new ones ?

MR. ROSS. Why we are constantly recruiting them, under
ordinary circumstances, by advertising and through blind ads,
and then we interview them and we select them through the
process of elimination. We have them write reports, giving
them subjects to write on, give them a talk and just let them
come back and see how much of it they get. A mental test, I
should say it was.

THE GENTLE ART OF HOOKING 65

Unemployed workers hunting for jobs turn to the Help Wanted
section of the newspapers. You know what they find there:

HELP WANTED

MACHINIST: General all-round machinist; preferably
experienced with big tools and heavy work; hourly rate
and bonus. Give shop experience, age and phone. Box 524.
Press.

PLANER HANDS: Heavy work, expansion program;
highest hourly rate to producers ; give details of experience,
references and phone. Box 13772. Plain Dealer.
RUBBER WORKERS: On sundries and specialties; can
make up to 80^f per hour, depending on production. Explain
class of work, machines experienced on, age and phone
number. Box 7372. Plain Dealer.

STRANDERS: And roughers for merchant mill on round,
hex and square stock; hourly rate plus tonnage. In reply
give description, full history and phone. Address Box 6418.

These are real ads taken from The Cleveland Press and Cleveland
Plain Dealer. They look like any other ads. But they are not. For
the unemployed worker who hopefully writes to any one of these
Box Numbers, they may be dynamite. These four harmless looking
offers of jobs were "blind ads" inserted by the Corporations Auxil-
iary Co. They were the bait to lure workers hungry for jobs into
the agency trap.

Any applicant who writes an intelligent reply to a blind ad is
notified to call for an interview at a stated address. The name on
the door of the office may be John Smith Company or Green Engi-
neering Corporation or any name except the name of the detec-
tive agency. The job-seeker is then given a "mental test," i.e., he
may be asked to write a detailed report then and there of what he
did that day, including all the people he talked to and what they
said; or he may be given an ordinary literacy test, etc. If the inter-
viewer is satisfied that he is capable, he is told that a job will be
found for him at such and such a factory; he will receive his
wages for his work at the factory, and an additional sum for the
daily reports he is to write. The applicant next applies at the

66 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

factory, is given the job at once, and his career as stool-pigeon is
begun.

The whole procedure from beginning to end, from blind ad to
union-smashing is beautifully illustrated in two affidavits from the
record. The first is the story of John Mohacsi, a machinist who
answered a blind ad and was molded into a spy; the second is a
union official's account of Mohacsi's activities as a spy.

John Mohacsi, being duly sworn deposes and says:

That I reside at 30-26 49th Street, Astoria, Long Island,
New York. That the following statements are made of my own
free will and accord.

I have been working as a machinist since 1919. I started as
an apprentice in the Trenton shop of the Pennsylvania Rail-
road and have, since that time, worked in many of the com-
panies throughout the metropolitan area as an experienced
machinist and tool and die maker.

In and about May 1935, while I was employed by the
Atlantic Base and Iron Works of Brooklyn, New York, I an-
swered an advertisement in the New York American, a paper
published daily in the city of New York, calling for an ex-
perienced machinist. I received a letter on the letterhead of
the Atlantic Production Company, 1775 Broadway, New
York City, to come in for an interview. I was interviewed by a
Mr. J. C. Carter, of that office who stated that his was a firm
of consulting engineers and that if they placed me on a job I
would have to report as to the conditions existing in the plant.
I was also given a literacy test.

I heard no more from this Atlantic Production Company
until November 1935, when I again received a letter from Car-
ter on the letterhead of that company. I was then employed
by the Fairchild Aerial Camera Corporation of Woodside,
Long Island, N. Y. I was then again interviewed by J. C.
Carter and told that they had a job for me. The job was with
the Worthington Pump Company at Harrison, New Jersey.

THE GENTLE ART OF HOOKING 67

I was to be employed as a tool maker at 78^ per hour. In addi-
tion to this I was to get $50.00 per month for my reports to
the Atlantic Production Company from Carter.

I was given instructions by Carter that I was to make re-
ports every day concerning the type of men I was working
with; whether any of the men were constantly complaining
about conditions; to get to know what my fellow workers
were thinking about and their attitude toward their pay and
working conditions. I was also told that when I incorporated
any of the complaints of the men, I was to make sure to state
the names of the men. I was told to report what "I see" and
what "I hear". I was told, in January 1936, by L. H. (Pat
Stewart) to join the union and to make myself a leader among
the men so as to influence their attitude toward their em-
ployer. I was also asked to report what fraternal lodge or union
most of the men belonged to; how it affects their work and my
specific instructions stated that if I thought my acquaintance
might be widened by joining the lodge or union, to contact
that Atlantic Production Company about the matter. I was
also instructed that if I was able to be elected from my de-
partment as a delegate to the lodge, I should do so in order
that I may become a real leader among the men.

I was given a letter to Mr. Bennett, general manager of
the Worthington Pump Company and was in turn turned
over to the employment manager. After three weeks of mak-
ing reports, I was turned over to Pat Stewart. Up until Jan-
uary 20, 1937, when I made my last report, my contact was
with Pat Stewart.

On or about January 4th, 1936, Pat Stewart sent me a letter
to come in to see him. In the ordinary course of my work, I
would make personal visits bi-monthly to the office to report.
When I came to the office, I noticed that the name Atlantic
Production Company was no longer on the door, and there ap-
peared the name International Auxiliary Corporation. At this
time, Pat Stewart told me that he wanted me to join the union

68 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

which was organizing at the plant. He handed me the applica-
tion card of the Tool, Die, and Metal Workers* Union of which
Mr. Rubicz was the organizer. This union later became a local
of the I.A.M. affiliated with the A. F. of L., local #1560.
He told me that I was to join up with the union and to make
detailed reports of what went on at the meetings.

Thereafter I wrote out an application for membership to the
union and became a member of same. Twice a month I would
send in detailed reports on the meetings of the union ... In
accordance with my instructions from Pat Stewart, I reported
on any radicals found in the plant or in the union. In accord-
ance with these instructions, I did report the names and identi-
ties of any such radicals . . .

JOHN MOHACSI.

That Mohacsi carried out his instructions to report on "radicals"
is proven by the following affidavit. It proves also that he had been
taught the customary agency definition of a radical a man who
belongs to a union.

Steve Rubicz, being duly sworn deposes and says:
That I am business representative of Unity Lodge #1560 of
the International Association of Machinists affiliated with the
A. F. of L., 315 Plane Street, Newark, New Jersey. That I
was business agent of the Machinists, Tool and Foundry
Workers local 401 which later became the present Unity Lodge
#1560 of the International Association of Machinists.

John Mohacsi, in January 1936, wrote in an application for
membership in what was then the Machinists, Tool and
Foundry Workers local 401. He stated that he was employed
in the Worthington Pump Company. At that time we had
about 1 8 members in the tool room of the Worthington Pump
Company. A few weeks after Mohacsi became a member, these
men came to see me and told me that they were dropping
their union membership. They stated that they had been in-
formed by the company that it knew that they were members

THE GENTLE ART OF HOOKING 69

of the union and that they know all about the activities of the
union. They were warned by the company that they had better
drop their membership if they wanted to retain their positions.
I am not stating the names of the men because of the fact that
they are still employed by the company and it might jeopardize
their positions if their names were stated. Practically all of the
1 8 resigned from the union. It was common knowledge among
the employees of the Worthington Pump Company that the
company was in a position of knowing whether or not they did
join the union.

In or about May 1936 this local amalgamated with the
International Association of Machinists and became local
#1560. In and about September 1936, two members of our
local secured positions at the Worthington Pump Company.
Within two weeks they were both discharged without any
reason having been given. Their names of course were known
to Mohacsi and he, no doubt, reported this to the company.

Many of the employees of the Worthington Pump Company
who have been with the company many years, have expressed
a desire to join the union. But they have stated to me that they
could not join because of the spy system of the company which
would jeopardize their positions. For this reason the union has
been unable to organize or secure any members in the said
company. Mohacsi has been exposed as a spy in the employ of
the International Auxiliary Corporation.

STEVE RUBICZ

Unemployed workers scan the Help Wanted section of the news-
papers and apply for jobs for which they are qualified. They need the
jobs. They are out of work and must have money. The jobs are
offered them with the seemingly harmless string attached, that
they must write secret reports. Before long they are lured into the
agency trap. They have become stool-pigeons.

Factory workers whose wages are not enough to meet their needs
are offered extra money for writing seemingly innocent reports.

7

THE LABOR SPY RACKET

Before long they are lured into the agency trap. They are hooked.
They have become stool-pigeons.

In this manner thousands of innocent men have been ensnared
into becoming spies. In similar fashion, thousands of innocent girls
have been trapped into becoming prostitutes. Is there any material
difference between the agency operative hooking an innocent
worker, and the pimp hooking an innocent girl? Even the money
returns to the principals are comparable the incomes of the
heads of the large spy agency chains would not be sneered at by
any head of a chain of brothels. The two "industries" are alike in
technique, profits, morals and ethics.

V. The Rats' Code

JOHN ANDREWS was paid $40 a month for spying on his pal
Dick Frankensteen. That's $480 a year. Rigby was offered $20 a
week. That's $1040 a year. Roszel, Mohacsi, Shults and the others
probably fall somewhere in between. Now $480 to $1000 is not a
great deal of money. But the spying business is like every other
business in capitalist society low wages to the men who do the
actual work, and huge returns to the directors and owners. While
Andrews was receiving $480 for his year's work, one of his bosses,
Dan Ross, the general manager, was receiving over 100 times as
much $50,000. And that wasn't all for Ross. The pattern among
our big industrialists is to throw in a reward to themselves for
the fine work their employees have done. Corporations Auxiliary
was no exception. Besides his $50,000 a year salary, Ross was
given a bonus of 10% of the gross receipts. Not a bad arrangement
for Mr. Ross as you can see from a glance at the gross annual in-
come of Corporations Auxiliary:

1933 $284,847. 78

1934 $489,131.11

1935 $518,215.26

Take 10% of each of those figures and add it to $50,000 and you
have Mr. Ross's annual income. Notice that this bonus scheme
stimulated Mr. Ross to get more work out of his employees every
year, so that by 1935 he had really made good: his total salary for
that year was higher than that of the President of the United
States!

Nor did the general manager get all the pickings. There was still
enough money left in the Corporations Auxiliary safe to take care
of the other big shots in the firm. Mr. James H. Smith, "harmoniz-

72 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

ing-conditions" Smith, the president of Corporations Auxiliary and
its subsidiaries, was not left out in the cold. According to his testi-
mony he was supposed to get $15,000 a year from each of five
operating companies. That would give him $75,000 annually, but
for some reason which he didn't explain, he drew down only $48,000
in 1935. But before you begin to worry about whether Smith could
live on that paltry sum, remember that was just his salary his
bonus and dividends are not counted in.

Mr. Weber, the secretary and treasurer of the outfit, must have
enjoyed himself as he counted the money due him in 1935 $30,-
ooo. That came to a little less than $600 a week. It wasn't even a
third of what he had to count out for Ross; nevertheless it was
enough to scrape along on, and since the business was growing Mr.
Weber could hope for a raise.

The Pinkertons did a bigger business. Their gross annual income
for 1933 to 1935 was as follows:

1933 $1,466,530.54

1934 $2,187,240.52

1935 $2,318,039.18

Their income from their industrial service alone was almost twice
as much as the gross annual income of Corporations Auxiliary. In
1934 it was approximately $900,000; in 1935, approximately $i,-
000,000; and for the first 7 months of 1936 it was approximately
$550,000.

But in spite of their huge volume of business, Pinkerton's salary
situation was something frightful. Mr. Rossetter, who told a touch-
ing story of how he had worked himself down from office boy to
chief clerk, to operative, to assistant superintendent, and finally to
general manager, was grossly underpaid. In 1935 his salary was a
measly $10,000 and his bonus a mere $2,000. Only $12,000 a year!
Compare the salaries of Pinkerton's Rossetter to Corporations'
Ross and the injustice becomes apparent at once. It's almost as
though Rossetter were still an office boy.

And the worst of it was that Rossetter couldn't complain. It
would have been different if Mr. Robert A. Pinkerton, the presi-

THE RATS' CODE 73

dent of the agency, were drawing a huge salary. But he wasn't. Mr.
Rossetter knew that what little work President Pinkerton did, he
did for nothing. Mr. Pinkerton received no salary at all. It was
true, of course, that the agency, in 1935, declared a dividend of
$185,000. It was true, too, that Mr. Pinkerton's slice of that divi-
dend melon was $129,500. But since Mr. Pinkerton owned 70% of
the stock in the agency, the $129,500 was justly due him. Rossetter
was experienced enough in business to know that it is customary
and proper for the lion's share to go to the men who own, not to the
men who work.

Now if you have been squirming as you read about these salaries
because your own annual income looks tiny by comparison, re-
member that America is still the land of opportunity. You too,
have a chance to crash into the Big Money. The way is clear
but it means hard work. Are you willing to apply yourself? Are you
willing to spend fifteen minutes a day in earnest study ? If you are,
then the Road to Success lies before you. An unusual career is open
to ambitious young men and women the Chance of a Lifetime
the opportunity to become a Stool-Pigeon. The National Manu-
facturers Syndicate, an affiliate of the Sherman Service, tells you
how. All you need do is enroll for their correspondence course, then
study, study, study. Here are a few sample instructions from their
24-page booklet entitled "Correspondence Course of Training for
an Industrial Operative":

FIRST INSTRUCTION SHEET

There is nothing about your relationship with your fellow
workers which can be considered underhand or deceitful . . .
Our work is most honorable, humanitarian, and very impor-
tant, and must be recognized as such.

SECOND INSTRUCTION SHEET

It is very plain that in order for us to be successful we must
conduct our work in an invisible manner. The ordinary worker,
in his ignorance, is apt to misunderstand our motives if he

74 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

knows of our presence and identity in the plant. You will
really be engaged in human engineering but in order that
you may succeed, no one is to know of your association with
us or the character of work which you are doing.

THIRD INSTRUCTION SHEET

The rules and regulations of our organization exclude even
one's close friends and families from any knowledge as to the
details of any assignments a representative may receive . . .

It will be your duty to make up and mail in a detailed report
for each day as to when you begin work, when you quit, what
you did, what you saw, and what you heard in connection with
the particular assignment in which you were engaged . . .

You will receive frequent instructions from us which you
are to mail back to us together with envelope in which it was
sent as soon as you have read them carefully . . .

Live strictly in accordance with your apparent earnings in
the plant. Do not spend money freely. Such action would at-
tract attention at once and would ruin your chance of making
your work successful.

When assigned to inside work in mill or factory, get a room-
ing place the same as any other worker would do. Do not share
it with others. The presence of an outsider would interfere
with the writing of your confidential reports and making up of
expense accounts.

Should it ever become necessary for you to explain to the
police your presence in any town, never under any circum-
stances admit to a police officer your connection with this or-
ganization. If the story you tell them does not satisfy them,
ask to see the police chief and to him only communicate your
identity by name and number and request him to get in touch
with us. When he communicates with us you will be dismissed
at once.

In writing your reports see that you are not observed by
fellow workers, the landlady, or others. When leaving the room

Senate Probers Examine Striker "Persuader"

(Underwood and Underwood]

"Six little Pinks sitting in a row": i. Shoemack; 2. Dudley;
3. Pinkerton; 4. Rossetter; 5. Pugmire; 6. Clark (Acme)

w

//

Raymond J. Burns and W. Sherman Burns, heads of the Burns
agency (Pictures, Inc.]

John L. Lewis, interested observer at the hearings

(Acme)

THE RATS' CODE 75

be sure that you leave no memoranda lying around. Tear them
up into minute parts before throwing into waste basket, or
Jbetter still, use the toilet hopper or burn . . .

FOURTH INSTRUCTION SHEET

Both your representative number and your case series num-
ber must appear on every report and expense slip. Never use
your name, or this organization, or the client's name. When
necessary refer to us as "The Service" and to the client as
"The Client" . . .

In mixing with your fellow-workers never allow yourself to
become intoxicated and never under any circumstances per-
mit yourself to mix up with women. Do not spend excessively.
Make no display of a roll of bills and be sure when you send in
your expense account that you make mention of money spent
for treats of fellow- workers . . .

In giving conversations always give the name of the man or
his number, then tell what you said to him and what he says
to you. In all these conversations try to talk about the work so
as to find out how each man feels about the foreman and super-
intendent or anyone else in authority. You want to find out
when the union meets, if there is a union. Then maybe we
will have you arrange to attend their meetings so that we can
see just what is going on, and be able to report whether any of
the men where you are at work are members of the union. Be
sure to report whether any agitation is going on in town any-
where.

Remember we are unalterably opposed to all cliques, radi-
calists, and disturbing elements who try to create discontent-
ment, suspicion, and unfriendliness on the part of the workers
toward the employer. The minds of those who are dissatisfied
and disgruntled must be changed. As our representative, you
must find out first of all who are the dissatisfied ones; then
cultivate their friendship and win their confidence. You will
then be in a position to help us eliminate discontentment.

76 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

Be forewarned before you enroll for this course that more than
diligent habits of study are required to win success in the spy busi-
ness. You must be daring. You must be prepared to throw over-
board your moral scruples. You must be hard. You must learn to
lie easily and often. You must convince yourself that practices
which most people regard as definitely wrong, are definitely right.
You must be slippery, shrewd, sharp, sneaky. You must not hesi-
tate to beat the law where you can and break the law where you
must. Success came to Corporations Auxiliary, the Pinkerton
Agency, the Burns Agency, the Sherman Service, Railway Audit &
Inspection and the other top-notchers, only because they had
learned these things.

Let us look at the record.

In 1933, the Chrysler Corporation owed to Corporations Auxiliary
$61,627.48. The agency submitted its bill and received payment.

In 1934, the Chrysler Corporation owed to Corporations Auxili-
ary $76,411.81. The agency submitted its bill and received pay-
ment.

In 1935, the Chrysler Corporation owed to Corporations Auxili-
ary $72,611.89. But now a curious thing happened. The agency did
not submit its bill and receive payment. Instead, it submitted four
bills.

Only the first, for $19,946.55, was from Corporations Auxiliary.

The second, for $19,447.09, was from Smith & Weber.

The third, for $16,910.58, was from the Equitable Auditing
& Publishing Co.

And the fourth, for $16,307.67, was from the International
Auxiliary Co.

The total is $72,61 1.89, which is what the Chrysler Corpo-
ration owed to Corporations Auxiliary for 1935. Then why all the
monkey business? Why did the agency in 1935 have to pull out of a
hat a Smith and Weber letterhead, and an Equitable Audi ting letter-
head? What trick was being performed in 1935 that wasn't staged
in '33 or '34?

Watch carefully.

THE RATS' CODE 77

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Mr. Smith, are you familiar with the
Securities Act . . . ?

MR. SMITH. I do not think so. Senator.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Are you familiar with the regulations
under that act requiring a corporation to report to the Securi-
ties and Exchange Commission all payments for services in
excess of $20,000 made by it to any firm, person, or corpora-
tion?

MR. SMITH. It seems to me I have read something of that sort.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Well, now, have you any reason
which you can give to the committee as to why these bills were
split up in 1935 and not split up in 1934?

MR. SMITH. None that I can give you, sir; no, sir.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Do you think that the Securities and
Exchange Act had anything to do with it ?

MR. SMITH. I might imagine some such thing, but I have no
knowledge of it.

Now we begin to understand. Smith hasn't been very helpful (he
gets a tremendous salary for knowing almost nothing, doesn't he?),
but Senator La Follette's suspicions give us a clue. The Chrysler
Corporation wanted to evade the law that required it to report to
the S.E.C. all payments it made above $20,000; the Chrysler Corpo-
ration was too embarrassed or afraid to make known the fact that
it had paid $72,611.89 to a spy agency. It asked Corporations
Auxiliary to help it beat the law, and the agency obliged by splitting
its bill into 4 parts no one of which was above $20 poo. Under this ar-
rangement Chrysler could pay what it owed without reporting it
thus beating the law.

Shady business, of course. We might be prepared to believe that
the dick agency would be partner to such a deal, but what about
the Chrysler Corporation? Would that great firm stoop so low?
Perhaps it's all a mistake, perhaps our suspicions are wrong.

Alas, no. The mighty Chrysler Corporation and Corporations
Auxiliary did conspire together to beat the law. It was, in fact,

78 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

Chrysler's idea and the agency did not hesitate to do its crooked
part. When Dan Ross was asked why Corporations Auxiliary's
method of billing was changed in 1935, he gave the whole show
away:

MR. ROSS. That was changed at the request of one of the offi-
cers I do not know whom on account of the Securities
Act.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. It was changed at the request of one
of the officers of the Chrysler Corporation ?

MR. ROSS. Yes, sir.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. It originated with them, you are
positive?

MR. ROSS. Oh, absolutely.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Now, obviously, as far as the Corpo-
rations Auxiliary Co. was concerned, you were willing to co-
operate, after you had received this request from the Chrysler
Corporation, in breaking down your bills for identical service,
so they would not have to report ?

MR. ROSS. I so informed Mr. Weber, and . . . the sending
of those bills was in accordance with that procedure.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. So as to enable the Chrysler Corpora-
tion, according to your testimony, to avoid the necessity of re-
porting, as required by law ?

MR. ROSS. I suppose so.

What Corporations Auxiliary could do for Chrysler, the Pinker-
tons could do for General Motors. Were General Motors officials
worried lest detailed Pinkerton bills passing through the accounting
department might reveal the fact that spies were in the plant?
Then the Pinks could relieve them of their fears. Two bills could be
submitted: one, long and detailed with all the dope in it for the
corporation officials, who would destroy it after reading; the other,
short and meaningless, with no tell-tale information on it for the
accountants and the files. What troublesome information, for ex-

THE RATS' CODE 79

ample, could the accountants glean from the following harmless-
looking bill?

G. O. 9 19332
April 30, 1935
General Motors Corporation, Dr.

In Account with J. S. Smith, 154 Nassau Street, New York,
N. Y. :

For Professional Services $2,780. 68

Travelling Expenses 865 . 54

Telephone and Telegraph 946 . 42

Publications 157.02

$4,749.66
Approved for Payment. Return to Audit Dept. For Final

Audit.

Approved for Final Audit R. A. M.
PAID OCT. 4, 1935; Ck. No. C 30298
265 R O.K. J. Eaton 27a
OK NMP OK H. W. A.

Could you tell from this bill that the $4,749.66 went in reality to
the Pinkerton Agency for its industrial service ? Not evident in any
way, is it? But wasn't it just as meaningless to General Motors
officials as it might be to the accountants? (Or to snooping govern-
ment officials?) Oh, no. They understood it because, you remember,
this bill was accompanied by a detailed one which explained Mr.
Smith's "professional services," etc.

Do you find it utterly fantastic that General Motors, one of the
greatest corporations in the world, should have asked the Pinks to
bill them in this sneaking fashion ? And that the Pinkerton Agency
(established 1850), which prides itself that it is superior to other
agencies, should have complied with General Motors' request?
Then look at the sworn testimony:

MR. HALE, [former labor-relations director] ... I worked it
out with Mr. McMullen that we didn't think it desirable to

8o THE LABOR SPY RACKET

have a lot of this detailed information going through our ac-
counting department files.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Why?

MR. HALE. For the reason it was the type of information we
just didn't think was good business to have scattered around
through the department.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Why?

MR. HALE. Well (Laughter).

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. As a matter of fact, Mr. Hale, you
did not want it to get back to the employees that you were
getting this kind of information, if you will pardon me for
asking a leading question to save time.

MR. HALE. I don't know that that was entirely the reason,
sir. A good many things are not understood, Senator, by
people who do not understand the whole picture.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. I will grant you that. But, for ex-
ample, Mr. Hale, it is not an accounting practice of this effi-
cient corporation, is it, to digest or think up strange headings
for bills for equipment, and parts and materials, is it? The
Steel Corporation does not bill you for wooden ware, does it?
(Laughter)

MR. HALE. No, sir. . . .

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. . . . You put into effect, or had an
arrangement with Pinkerton's whereby those detailed bills,
which you thought inadvisable to have going through the
accounting department, came through in the form of a break-
down into four or five different heads ?

MR. HALE. Yes, sir.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. And then later on you began to get
bills from clerks in Pinkerton's, like J. S. Smith, for profes-
sional services during i month, $2,850. Now, I am asking you
if those were typical of the bills you received ? ...

MR. HALE. We received two bills. We received a detailed
bill . . . and a summary bill for purposes of going through

THE RATS' CODE 81

our accounting department. On the basis of the detailed bill it
gave me a chance to audit the over-all bill.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. What did you do with the detailed bill ?

MR. HALE. Destroyed it, sir.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. The bills that were left in the records
of the General Motors' offices were really not reflectory of the
kind of service you were obtaining, were they ?

MR. HALE. I would say they were; yes, sir; very definitely.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Would you say a bill, from J. S.
Smith, who Mr. Rossetter testified was a clerk in his office, for
professional services, amounting to, if my recollection serves
me correctly, in I month to $2,850, and traveling and tele-
phone expenses around $900, revealed the type of service that
Pinkerton was rendering to your organization?

MR. HALE. Those bills were subsequent to my time, and I
will ask Mr. Anderson to answer that question.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. What would you say, Mr. Anderson?

MR. ANDERSON. No, Sir.

Of course it's unfair to put more than a little of the blame on the
agencies. In both these cases the shady idea came originally from
the clients, Chrysler and General Motors. All that the agencies did
was to fall in with the scheme without any quibbling. They obeyed
their master's voice. The companies that paid the bills were calling
the tune.

They called a good many tunes some of them definitely off key
to anybody not made tone-deaf by contact with dick agencies.
For example, both Chrysler and General Motors ordered their spy
service extended to plants other than their own! Chrysler bought
supplies and equipment from firms not subsidiary to the Chrysler
Corporation. Mr. Allen P. Hascall, who was in charge of the pur-
chase of materials, testified that he felt it was his job to keep a
steady flow of materials coming into the plant, so he asked Corpora-
tions Auxiliary to make "surveys" of the vendor plants. Corpora-

82 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

tions Auxiliary obliged. It made surveys, too, of plants not yet
selling to Chrysler. It even made surveys of vendors to competitors
of Chrysler! And in no case were the officials of these plants advised
that Chrysler was spying on them through Corporations Auxiliary.
Pretty business!

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Is it your policy to ask for reports on
all vendors who supply an appreciable amount of materials
necessary for the complete operation of the Chrysler plants?

MR. HASCALL. YeS, sir.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Is it your practice to secure such a
report before you purchase any material from a new source of
supply ?

MR. HASCALL. I frequently do that.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. When you have a vendors' survey
made ... do you advise any of the officers of that company
that you are having such a survey made ?

MR. HASCALL. No Sir.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Is it not often true that your competi-
tors use some of these vendors ?
MR. HASCALL. I would say so.

Does Chrysler's practice of injecting their paid spies into the
other fellow's plants seem just a trifle er unusual ? Well, it
didn't seem so to General Motors their only complaint was that
their own spies, the Pinks, didn't get them enough information on
their vendors' business:

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Now, Mr. Hale; were you interested
in information concerning labor conditions and organizational
activities in the equipment and suppliers of General Motors?

MR. HALE. I was interested if there was threatened trouble.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Did Pinkertons furnish you such
information ?

THE RATS' CODE 83

MR. HALE. Not as completely as I wished they had.
SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. They did furnish you some?
MR. HALE. Yes, sir.

If you think all this spying in their own plants and in the plants
of their vendors is becoming a hopeless tangle, here's a word of
warning "You ain't seen no thin' yet." General Motors put the
Pinkertons on still another tack they had to spy on the Corpora-
tions Auxiliary! T^he spies for General Motors were asked to spy on
the spies for Chrysler.

Senator La Follette hands a Pinkerton ledger sheet to Edward S.
Clark, manager of the Pinkerton Cleveland office:

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Mr. Clark, do you know what C.A.C.
stands for? There are n entries for C.A.C. What is that?

MR. CLARK. I think that is the Corporations Auxiliary Co.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. What were you doing on that job?

MR. CLARK. Well, we were trying to find out whether or
not information they were securing was being passed to a
competitor.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Now, why did you concentrate on
Corporations Auxiliary?

MR. CLARK. Well, it was my understanding that those folks
were doing a good deal of work for this particular competitor.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Which One ?

MR. CLARK. Chrysler . . .

How the spy system grows! What sorry practices our business
leaders feel themselves forced to indulge in, because of the pressure
of competitive capitalist industry.

But we've not reached the end even yet. Not only do the agencies
spy on workers and vendors, and on the operatives of other agencies,
but they even spy on their own spies ! They can't even trust them-
selves. Robert W. Coates, a Burns operative, admitted this. He
was being questioned about a report he had written about a union

84 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

meeting of bakery workers which he had attended. (See Appendix
C.)

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. As a matter of fact did you not take
part in this meeting and make these suggestions for the pur-
pose of establishing confidence in the minds of the other people
there concerning yourself and your bona fide connection as a
worker for a bakery?

MR. COATES. Well, it is certain I didn't go in there and tell
them I was a Burns detective. It is quite obvious from my
reports on it.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. You even went so far as to express
your fear there might be some stool-pigeons present.

MR. COATES. Why, I was satisfied there was.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. How could you tell? (Laughter)

MR. COATES. Senator, in my experience for the past twenty
some years I have found out there is stools in every union
organization.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. You did not think there were any
other Burns stools there, did you?

MR. COATES. I didn't know. There might have been some-
body there checking on me for all I knew. (Laughter)

SENATOR THOMAS. Is that a common practice?

MR. COATES. For what?

SENATOR THOMAS. For Burns men to check on Burns men.

MR. COATES. Well, I have known them to.

The Burns agency had the "checking" habit. For a considera-
tion, they would check anything and everybody. No, that's not
quite true Mr. W. Sherman Burns, secretary-treasurer of the
William J. Burns International Detective Agency, testified that
they "never shadowed any grand juries at any time." Trial juries
well, they were different, but grand juries, never.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Do you recall the activities of your
agency in connection with the prosecution of Harry Sinclair

THE RATS' CODE 85

for refusing to answer questions before a Senate committee,
engaged in investigating the Teapot Dome Oil scandals?

MR. W. SHERMAN BURNS. YeS, Sir.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Did not operatives of your agency
shadow members of a Federal grand jury which indicted
Sinclair?

MR. w. SHERMAN BURNS. Not in that case, or in no case.
We never shadowed any grand juries at any time.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Did you shadow the trial jurors in
that case?

MR. w. SHERMAN BURNS. In the Sinclair case; yes.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Pardon me for getting the question
first about the grand jury. Is there any difference between
shadowing grand jury members and trial jury members in
your judgment?

MR. W. SHERMAN BURNS. I think SO.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. In the field of morals or ethics?

MR. w. SHERMAN BURNS. Yes; I think so.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Do you recall what the Supreme
Court of the United States had to say about private detectives
apropos of your activities in the Sinclair case?

MR. w. SHERMAN BURNS. No; I don't recall.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Just to refresh your recollection I
will read in part from the decision of the Supreme Court:

"The most exemplary resent having their footsteps dogged
by private detectives. All know that men who accept such
employment commonly lack fine scruples, and only wilfully
misrepresent innocent conduct and manufacture charges."

Does that refresh your recollection?

MR. W. SHERMAN BURNS. YeS, sir.

It might be argued that the Supreme Court was a little too hard
on the dicks when it said they "commonly lack fine scruples."
Actually the scruples of the Burns outfit were so very, very fine that

86 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

they could detect a difference in ethics between shadowing a grand
jury and a trial jury.

One wonders what the Supreme Court would think of the latest
wrinkle in shadowing. In Toledo, in 1935, there was a strike at the
Chevrolet plant. Mr. Edward McGrady, the Assistant Secretary of
Labor, was sent in by the Government to act as conciliator, ^he
Pinkertons, acting for General Motors, shadowed Mr. McGrady, a
government officer. It no longer surprises us to learn that spies trail
John L. Lewis, Adolph Germer, Richard Frankensteen, and other
leaders of labor; but this shadowing of a government officer while he
is in the middle of his negotiations toward settlement of a strike, is a
new angle. Yet the record leaves no room for doubt:

MR. MARTIN. [Pinkerton operative] . . . Mr. McGrady was
pointed out to me by Mr. Brunswick. [Bronson, Burnside, now
Brunswick.]

SENATOR THOMAS. Mr. Brunswick identified Mr. McGrady?
MR. MARTIN. Mr. Brunswick identified Mr. McGrady.
SENATOR THOMAS. And told you to follow McGrady?
MR. MARTIN. And told me to follow McGrady.
SENATOR THOMAS. For what purpose?

MR. MARTIN. When he came out to follow him, see where he
went and whom he talked to.

SENATOR THOMAS. Then you did what?

MR. MARTIN. Then I was told by Mr. Brunswick to go to a
room downstairs, that Mr. Brunswick had made arrangements
with the manager of the hotel. This room was right next door
to the one supposedly occupied by Mr. McGrady.

SENATOR THOMAS. That is, Mr. Brunswick knew the hotel in
which McGrady lived ?

MR. MARTIN. YeS.

SENATOR THOMAS. And he made arrangements for you to
have the room next door?

MR. MARTIN. He made arrangements for us to have the
room next door.

THE RATS' CODE 87

SENATOR THOMAS. So that you could shadow him?
MR. MARTIN. So we could sit in there and try to hear what
they were talking about.

SENATOR THOMAS. In the next room?

MR. MARTIN. YeS, Sir.

SENATOR THOMAS. What hotel was that?

MR. MARTIN. The Secor Hotel.

SENATOR THOMAS. Did you go to the room?

MR. MARTIN. We went to the room but did not hear any-
thing.

SENATOR THOMAS. Well, you mean Mr. McGrady did not
come into the room ?

MR. MARTIN. I could not tell who was in the room. There was
someone in there. Everything was mumbled; I could not even
say Mr. McGrady was in there. He was supposed to be in
there with these other men.

SENATOR THOMAS. They talked in low voices?

MR. MARTIN. Well, they talked loud enough, but you could
not understand anything.

SENATOR THOMAS. They talked in a foreign language?

MR. MARTIN. No, sir.

SENATOR THOMAS. How did you try to understand it? Did
you get near the transom ?

MR. MARTIN. All we had to do was to get up near the wall.
That is all I could do.

SENATOR THOMAS. Did you try that again?

MR. MARTIN. Well, on two or three occasions like that,
always at night.

SENATOR THOMAS. Always at night?

MR. MARTIN. Always at night.

SENATOR THOMAS. When Mr. McGrady came home?

MR. MARTIN. YeS.

Martin's testimony was corroborated when Brunswick-Burnside
was on the stand.

J THE LABOR SPY RACKET

SENATOR THOMAS. Mr. McGrady's chief job was to try to
settle strikes, was it not?

MR. BURNSIDE. YeS.

SENATOR THOMAS. Why would you want to shadow him?

MR. BURNSIDE. I presume, to see what his contacts were. I
had those instructions from Mr. Clark, as I remember, to
place him under surveillance. I presume it was to see who he
was contacting, where he went.

SENATOR THOMAS. Could it possibly have been because you
did not want to see the strike settled?

MR. BURNSIDE. No, sir.

SENATOR THOMAS. That you wanted to sell more of your
wares ?

MR. BURNSIDE. No, no.

SENATOR THOMAS. You know that there has been testimony
given here that that has been done, do you not?

MR. BURNSIDE. So I understand.

SENATOR THOMAS. Did you know that Mr. McGrady was
Assistant Secretary of Labor at the time you shadowed
him?

MR. BURNSIDE. I do not believe I knew his exact title, Sena-
tor. I knew he was connected with the Labor Department; he
was there as conciliator or mediator, or something of that
kind.

SENATOR THOMAS. Would it be commonplace for you to
accept a task like that, shadowing Government men ?

MR. BURNSIDE. Well, in shadowing anyone, Senator, that a
client, whom we considered responsible, had reason to take
interest in, as to their movements and so on, if it appeared
there was nothing unethical or nothing illogical about it, I
presume we would take the job, whether they were Govern-
ment officials or who they were.

SENATOR THOMAS. Do you think any of your employees
had an idea which way Mr. McGrady's opinions would tend,

THE RATS' CODE 2

coward the right or toward the left, toward radicalism or
toward conservatism?

MR. BURNSIDE. Mr. McGrady, as far as I know, always had
a very fair reputation, a reputation as being fair, not being
inclined toward one side or the other. That is why he has been
so successful in settling a great many of these difficulties.

SENATOR THOMAS. If Mr. McGrady is such a fine man,
what about the ethics of eavesdropping, putting a couple of
men next to his room to listen?

MR. BURNSIDE. To try to, as Mr. Martin said, hear what was
going on in there, to see what progress was being made. If it
were for the holding company, [General Motors], for instance,
they might be interested in knowing how soon the thing was
coming to a settlement, so that they could make their plans
accordingly . . .

SENATOR THOMAS. In the Chevrolet strike in Toledo in 1935,
what information could be more important to General Motors
than to know what concessions the union would make, Mr.
Burnside?

MR. BURNSIDE. That would be important, yes.

SENATOR THOMAS. In other words, if you had gotten some in-
formation that you could have sent on to your employers in the
shadowing of Mr. McGrady, it would have been a trump card
in your espionage work, would it not?

MR. BURNSIDE. They might consider it so.

SENATOR THOMAS. It would very largely interfere with bring-
ing about a settlement?

MR. BURNSIDE. It might have an effect.

SENATOR THOMAS. Well, Mr. Pinkerton, do you think so ?

MR. PINKERTON. I do .

SENATOR THOMAS. . . . What about interfering with the
bringing about of peace? That is the aim of the conciliator. He

9 o THE LABOR SPY RACKET

represents the public. He does not represent the strikers and he
does not represent the concerns at all, but he represents the
general public. Now, in that position he must have the abso-
lute trust of both sides or else all his work is ineffective. The
minute you spy on him you cannot do anything else but break
down that trust.

MR. PINKERTON. If the fact is known it would have a bearing
on it.

SENATOR THOMAS. To give an actual illustration, any evi-
dence the union committee reveals of what it might concede,
if through that, your General Motors, that is, your employer,
learns that, it would be extremely valuable to General Motors;
would it not?

MR. BURNSIDE. I presume it would.

SENATOR THOMAS. For example, put it in simple arithmetic:
If the strikers are striking for a raise of 50 cents a day in the
case, and the conciliator knows that they will accept 25 cents
a day but the firm does not know it as yet but you find out that
they would, would it not be the stupidest firm on earth that
would not hold out for a saving of 25 cents ?

MR. BURNSIDE. It would seem to me that if the conciliator
knew that the 25 cents was a common meeting ground, that
that would be the point to fix the settlement, anyway.

SENATOR THOMAS. Yes; but you have got that and you tell it
to the persons on one side and they have got that information.
Do you not see that you have given them a weapon whereby
they will hold out and hold out until they [the strikers] break?

MR. BURNSIDE. I can conceive of that; yes.

In the McGrady case the Pinks admitted shadowing a govern-
ment official. Still, in all fairness to them, it must be admitted that
other evidence was introduced showing that they were prepared at
any time to work not on but for government officials, if they were
given the opportunity. This evidence was extremely interesting be-

THE RATS* CODE 91

cause to do so would have been a violation of a law passed on March
3, 1893. The law was a direct result of the major part played by the
Pinkerton Agency in the bloody Homestead Strike. Congress, at
that time, was so outraged by this employment of private detec-
tives which resulted in ten deaths, that it passed the law prohibiting
the Federal Government or any of its departments from ever em-
ploying detective agencies and it mentioned the Pinkerton
Agency specifically.

But a law passed by the Congress of the United States was a
mere detail to be lightly brushed aside when the Pinks were after
business. Detective agencies are on to every trick of the game when
it comes to beating the law, and the Pinkertons are no exception.
Order 106 of the Pinkerton Order Book is a gem in that it first
quotes the law prohibiting the employment of the agency, and then
goes on deliberately to show how that law can be evaded!

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. I will read certain portions of ...
page 4 of Order 106 taken from the Pinkerton Order
Book.

" 13. United States Government.

(a) Act of March 3, 1893, Vol. #2. p. 121, Supp. R.S.U.S.
provides 'That hereafter no employee of the Pinkerton's De-
tective Agency, or similar Agency, shall be employed in any
Government Service, or by an officer of the District of Co-
lumbia . . .'

(b) Under this law the United States Government can re-
fuse to pay Agency's bills.

(c) When solicited by United States officials, their atten-
tion should be called to this law and, if responsible, their per-
sonal guarantee for payment of our account secured, other-
wise from some other responsible person.

(d) The law has been overcome by Government officials
by our rendering to them two bills. One in the usual detail, the
other on plain paper for the total amount for them to use as a
voucher, as exampled:

92 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

John Smith (the official)
To Peter Doe (An agency clerk's name)
For services and expenses $375.25
(e) Reports should be rendered on plain paper, operative
designated by number and not signed, and with no mention of
the agency."

Now, it is clearly the intent of that order, is it not, Mr. Pink-
erton, to indicate methods of evading the law ?

MR. PINKERTON. YeS.

A detailed bill and a fake bill the same technique that was in
use for General Motors. Fool the workers in one case, fool the law
in the other. (Note that there must be two sides to this illegal bar-
gain government officials on the one, Pinkertons on the other.)

The Social Security Act which required that the names of em-
ployees be filed with the government authorities gave the agencies
a real headache. Because secrecy is so essential to their business
they felt that they must not reveal the names of their operatives.
But the law said they must. What to do about it?

There's always a way out for these slippery boys. They solved the
problem by removing the operatives from their own payroll and
having them appear only on the payroll of the corporations in
which they were operating. Brilliant stroke, wasn't it? John Mo-
hacsi, C.A.C. operative, tells how it worked in his case: "In and
about January 4, 1937, 1 was called into the office by Stewart and I
filled out a card resigning my position with the Int. Aux. Corp. I
was then instructed to sign a new contract of employment for the
handing in of reports to the Worthington Pump Company. I was to
receive the same amount of pay but it would come directly from the
Worthington Pump Company. All my reports and activities were
to continue in the same way, being supervised by Stewart of the
Int. Aux. Corp. and there was no change in the manner or place to
which I was to send my reports."

When Smith, C.A.C. president, was asked why his corporation
had inaugurated this new practice this was his answer:

THE RATS' CODE 93

MR. SMITH. Oh, it is a question of the Social Security Act, I
imagine.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. To relieve your corporation of the
responsibility of reporting under the Social Security Act?

MR. SMITH. Yes.

State and city laws requiring registration of operatives were a
nuisance. There were, of course, ways of getting around these laws,
and in some states, some agencies pulled fast ones like that of
C.A.C. on the Social Security Act. But occasionally the boys
slipped or else they just didn't bother to obey the law. The evi-
dence shows that Railway Audit violated the Wisconsin law re-
quiring registration of operatives; that Corporations Auxiliary
"complied" with the Wisconsin law by a trick but paid no at-
tention to a similar law in the state of Indiana; that the Pinkerton
Agency did not register at least one secret operative in Atlanta,
where there was an ordinance requiring such registration.

In its returns to the men at the top, and in its hooking aspect, the
spy industry has been likened to the business of organized prostitu-
tion. In its method of getting and keeping business the spy industry
is like the armament industry.

In the United States one unique offshoot of the business of mak-
ing armaments for warring nations is the business of making muni-
tions, tear gas, and machine guns for industrialists for "plant pro-
tection" in case of strikes. This offshoot of the armament industry,
like its parent, thrives on trouble. Business is best when the cus-
tomer is scared. Orders roll in when the customer's security is
threatened. Federal Laboratories, Inc., the Lake Erie Chemical
Co., and the Manville Manufacturing Co., the three principal
munitions makers for industrial use in the United States, are ever
on the lookout for what they call "trouble" i.e., strikes.

So with the spy agencies. They too thrive on "trouble" defined
by them as "any attempt by workers to organize." Let a union
organizer show his head in any locality and the salesmen for the spy
agencies turn up at once soliciting business. The similarity is plainly

94 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

illustrated in a comparison of letters from the munitions and spy
agency salesmen. Mr. Herrick Foote, munitions salesman of New
Haven, Conn., writes to Mr. A. S. Ailes, vice president of the Lake
Erie Chemical Co. on April 5th, 1935. "I am doing a lot of mis-
sionary work in anticipation of a strike this spring, and I'm in a
position to send in some good orders, if it will only mature. Wish a
hell of a strike would get under way." Two months later, he writes
again as the situation gets hotter:

NEW HAVEN, CONN., June 15, 1935.
A. S. AILES,

Lake Erie Chemical Company, Cleveland, Ohio.
Dear Mr. Ailes : I beg to advise you that at a meeting of the
national officials of the United Textile Workers Union of Amer-
ica held at Providence, R. I., yesterday demanded a 20% in-
crease in wages for the workers in the cotton and woolen mills
and if this 20% increase was not given within the next ten
days, a general strike throughout the country would be called.
This looks like some business and if this strike matures it will
be a bad one. Hope you have something definite as to the new
long range gun, as we will be in a bad way, if this strike gets
under way and we have no long range guns . . . I hope that
this strike develops and matures and that it will be a damn bad one 3
we need the money . . . Everyone wants to be up on their toer>
watching this situation and work fast . . .
Very truly yours,

HERRICK FOOTE.

Just as Mr. Foote of the munitions industry saw business coming
his way as a strike situation developed and matured, so Operative
423 (W. H. Gray, of Railway Audit) looked for business in Tennes-
see where, in July 1935, a number of A. F. of L. organizers had
made their appearance. Mr. Gray of the spy agency was following
Foote's prescription for the munitions men he was on his toes,
watching the situation, and working fast:

THE RATS' CODE 95

Att: 700 [Mr. L. D. Rice, vice-president and general manager]

7- 2 5

I picked a Tenn. Labor Paper, and found that there is con-
siderable activity going on around Johnson City, Tenn., as well
as Knox[ville]; also the Hosiery Workers are getting aroused in
Nashville, 'Tenn. I will get to Johnson City as soon as I can
without haveing to make to long a jump . . . Mr. Temple
showed me a letter from the Tenn. Mfg. Assoc; Sect, from
Nashville, Tenn. and they are very much alarmed over there,
as there Wash. Rep. [representative] reports that AFL. sent
out 600 L:O [labor organizers] in the past two weeks, and
plenty of them headed South, so I will get out of here to-mor-
row and work to ward Nash. Tenn. . . .
Yours Truly,

#423
How shall we mark Operative Gray's work?

Spelling 40

Spotter of union activity 100

Effort 100

That both the munitions and the spy industries should be on the
lookout for trouble areas where they could sell their services was to
be expected. They are alike again in that when they are unsuccess-
ful in their hunt for trouble when the trouble they are looking
for has not yet come to the surface then they either make it or
fake it. The story of how the armament makers stir up trouble,
then profit from the trouble they have made, has been told re-
peatedly in books and pamphlets. But how do the spy agencies
make trouble and profit from it ?

Mr. Holderman, the hosiery union official who testified to an
agency's unsuccessful attempt to hook him, tells how:

MR. HOLDERMAN. . . . He [the agency operative] then gave
me instructions not only to mail in the reports on the union, to
him, but also that I was to, as district manager, immediately

96 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

tighten up on conditions in the Gotham Hosiery Co., which
had a mill in Dover, N. J., and one in New York City, which,
combined, employed about 1 200 people.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. What did you understand him to
mean when he said to "tighten up on them?"

MR. HOLDERMAN. I was to go after increasing the wages and
shorten the hours in behalf of the -people there. We subsequently
checked up on why these instructions were given, and we found
that at the same time these instructions were issued to me the
representative of the same company had approached the Gotham
management.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. You mean the same detective agency?

MR. HOLDERMAN. The same detective agency, tfhey ap-
proached the Gotham management and they told them that trouble
was brewing in their Dover and New Tork plants and that they
could solve their labor difficulties.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. You mean that the detective agency
could solve them ?

MR. HOLDERMAN. The detective agency could solve these la-
bor difficulties and prevent the trouble which was at that time
pending.

Marvelous scheme, isn't it? The agency sends one of its spies into
a plant through the back door to stir up trouble; then it sends one of
its smooth salesmen through the front door to sell its services in
putting down the very trouble that it has itself brewed! And a
duped, frightened plant management usually falls for it!

This technique for getting business is so fantastic that it's almost
unbelievable. But it's true. Take the word of Senator Wheeler of
Montana. On April 7, 1937, on the floor of the Senate Chamber,
Senator Wheeler said: "I have had a great deal of experience . . .
with the industrial spy system . . . When I was a prosecuting
attorney I had occasion to investigate some of these cases. I found
that what would happen would be that industrial spies would get
into a union and then would go out and try to get decent union

THE RATS' CODE 97

men to commit some crime to blow up a transformer, to put
dynamite under a building, or blow up something or they would
drive nails into logs or set fire to mines and try to get decent men
belonging to the unions to do these very things, for the purpose of
creating jobs for the spies' particular organization. In two particular
cases we had direct, positive evidence of this being done . . .

"As I said a moment ago, these spies would get into the union,
and then would go out and create a situation whereby they would
frighten the lawyers and the officers of the company to such an ex-
tent that they would have to employ a great many more men to
watch these 'dangerous' men; and when the 'dangerous* literature
that was being put out, or the suggestions that were being made by
supposedly bad men, were traced down, they were almost invari-
ably traced to the Pinkerton or the Burns or the Thiel detective
who was lurking in the background."

Not only do spy agencies make trouble to get business, but they
also fake trouble to keep the business once they have got it.
Lyle Letteer, former Pinkerton operative, tells about the instruc-
tions he received on a job for General Motors, from Mr. Littlejohn,
superintendent of the Atlanta office.

MR. LETTEER. . . . To use his expression, he said that my
reports would have to have more meat in them.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Did Mr. Littlejohn tell you why to
make them meatier?

MR. LETTEER. He said he wanted to pull the investigation along.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Wanted to what?

MR. LETTEER. Prolong the investigation.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. How did he say it would prolong it if
you made your reports longer and meatier ?

MR. LETTEER. He said if I made the reports longer and put
more meat into them, that the Detroit office would carry them
along quite a while longer than they ordinarily would run.

Littlejohn of Pinkerton's wasn't the only one who had this

98 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

bright idea. When Mr. Kuhl worked for National Corporation
Service, he gave the operatives under him the same cute advice:

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Did you ever assist in building up
jobs?

MR. KUHL. Well I did to this extent: To use the expression
that is used in these kind of companies, I have went out and
put the "heat" on.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Just tell US about that.

MR. KUHL. For instance, an operative was falling back in his
work, or this client does not seem to think he is receiving
enough information, why, you go out and get hold of these
"ops" and tell them; come right out and tell them flat turkey,
"It is your job, too, so maybe you better use your imagination a
little and write something in here that is of interest to the client"

This looks very much as though the agencies occasionally double-
cross the employers who hire them. They do. As long ago as 1923,
that fact was plain to Roger W. Babson, who has made it his life
work to advise business men how to make money. In a special
bulletin to industrial leaders in that year, Mr. Babson solemnly
warned them against spy agencies. "There are a score or more of
these industrial spy agencies at work in the country. They act
under all kinds of names which give no hint of their real work. Im-
mense sums are paid to them by our employers.

"This is a serious blunder on the part of corporation leaders. It
stirs up trouble where none exists. It is the most potent breeder of
radicalism that we have . . . The 'boring from within' which radi-
cal agitators are charged with, is a drop in the bucket to the boring
that the industrial spy does for money which the employer pays.
These spy agencies set out to find rottenness, and if they do not
actually find it, some make it or fake it."

It is now fourteen years since Mr. Babson wrote this bitter attack
on one of the "services" the detective agencies perform for corpora-
tion leaders. At that time, strike-breaking was another agency
service paid for by industrialists. It still is. But the weapons used

THE RATS' CODE 99

in strike-breaking have changed and as you can easily guess, the
smart dick agencies have kept abreast of the times. Where formerly
agency thugs would use only blackjacks, clubs, and bullets to break
up a picket line, the 1937 model includes tear gas, vomiting gas, and
the like. A sales circular of the Lake Erie Chemical Co. thus de-
scribes the effects produced by one of its nauseating gases: "Once
rioters have been subdued with K.O. gas they will not invite an-
other dose until their memory of the last experience becomes very
dim, indeed. What does K.O. gas do to the victim?

"i. Violent nausea and vomiting.

" 2. Sense of suffocation as if several men were sitting on chest.

"3. Intense pain in chest and head . . ."

This is actually one of the less harmful weapons now available to
strike-breaking agency thugs. A more dangerous one, put out by the
same company, is thus described in the sales circular: "The gas
from the Green Band grenade is invisible making it more effective
and terrifying, because it is not possible for the rioters to determine
where the gas cloud begins or ends as is the case with all burning-
type munitions." From another circular, describing the same
weapon, we learn that "The grenade body tears into ribbons and
these ribbons, together with firing mechanism, are thrown with
considerable force in all directions from point of burst, with pos-
sible severe injury to persons within a radius of approximately fif-
teen feet thereof.

"This grenade should not be thrown into a crowd unless very
severe treatment is necessary, as the pain from the high concentra-
tion of this gas in the eyes, nose and throat is almost unbearable.
Unless drastic treatment is necessary, throw the grenade about 30
or 40 feet 'upwind* of the mob."

Pretty toys these, aren't they, to be put into the hands of strike-
breaking agency operatives, many of them with criminal records a
mile long! And that it often is the detective agencies which use such
weapons is shown in part of a letter written by the secretary-
treasurer of the Manville Manufacturing Co. to a salesman: "In
regard to your questions, I will try and answer them as follows: Our

ioo THE LABOR SPY RACKET

equipment was used to break up the strike of the Ohio Rubber
Company at Willoughby, Ohio, and to break up the strike in the
Gear Plant of Toledo, Ohio; was used at the Eaton Axle plant at
Cleveland, at the Real Silk Hosiery Company, of Indianapolis, and
at a great many smaller places. In each of the above cases the
equipment was used by the detective agencies brought in to pro-
tect the plant . . ."

Further proof. The following is particularly interesting because it
brings to light the same kind of monkey business that we've met
earlier even more vividly. For here is a shipment of gas and muni-
tions, etc., for the Firestone Tire Company, Akron, Ohio, which is
shipped to a Joseph Folk, Lakewood, Ohio, part of it sent as a gift
to a D. C. Graham, and billed to the Pinkerton agency!

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Will you look at exhibit 213, please,
Mr. Ailes? Is this a copy of a work order of the Lake Erie
Chemical Co.?

MR. AILES. It is, apparently.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. This is a work order of the Lake Erie
Chemical Co. It shows a large number of various kinds of equip-
ment: gas fountain pens, .410 caliber, serial number; Baby
Giant gas projector; Baby Giant gas projector shells; watch-
men's clubs; watchmen's club shells; gas riot pistols; gas riot
pistol shells; hand grenades; Universal, Universal C N. What
does "CN" refer to?

MR. AILES. Tear gas.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. And "D M"?

MR. AILES. Nauseating gas.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. L R field gun, L R shells. That is long
range ?

MR. AILES. Long range; yes.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Band, candles, and so forth, warning
label in shipment. One Baby Giant gas projector and three
Baby Giant gas projector shells are marked as a gift to D. C.
Graham. Do you know anything about that?

THE RATS' CODE 101

MR. AILES. I don't know about him.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. It says " For Firestone Tire, Akron,
Ohio, ship to Joseph Folk, Lakewood, Ohio." Do you know
who he is?

MR. AILES. I do not.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. And then it says, "Send or give bill
to Pinkerton." What does that mean; that they are the people
to be billed for the shipment?

MR. AILES. It probably means that, if they are to get the bill.

Mixed up as this transaction was, it was quite clear that the
equipment was to be used at the Firestone plant. On another order,
the Lake Erie Chemical Co. was not as frank about who the real
purchaser of the equipment was. Look this bill over and try to
determine who bought the goods:

July 11, 1935.

Sold to: W. H. Grabbe, 147 South 2ist St. Terre Haute, Ind.
Shipped to: J. B. South c/o Railway Express Co.; Terre
Haute Ind. via B/L 5354

Express Paid
75 Universal tear gas candles, no. i, series Nos.

6-284, to 2903 and 3004 to 3015, $10.00 $750.00

25 Universal K O & Lightning #5 candles, no. 2755

to 2779, $14.00 35 - 00

4 Long range field gun outfits complete, each con-
sisting of

1 carrying case

7 long range tear gas shells

7 long range K O & tear gas shells

2 illuminating star shells

4 long range field guns, nos. 1 1 19, 1008, 1013,
and 1018

$1868.00

Plus express paid 14.02

$1882.02

768.00

102 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

It looks as though this shipment of goods was sold to a Mr. W. H.
Grabbe, doesn't it ? Actually, the Columbian Stamping & Enamel-
ing Co. of Terre Haute was the real purchaser. This particular sale
is of especial interest because the go-between in the transaction was
Mr. Edgar E. MacGriffin, president of the National Corporation
Service, a dick agency. MacGriffin got a commission of 20%, or
$373. 60 for arranging the sale. Thus we learn that not only do the
agencies make use of the equipment of munitions firms on jobs
which they are handling, but the tie is even closer agency officials
on occasion even act as salesmen for munitions firms.

In fact, the tie was so close in one case that the spy agency and
the munitions firm were one and the same. The agency in question
was Railway Audit and the munitions outfit was Federal Labora-
tories, Inc., the largest of the munitions firms. Mr. G. Eugene Ivey,
whom we have met before as manager of the Atlanta office of Rail-
way Audit, seems to have been a veritable Pooh-Bah; besides
acting as manager, he was lawyer for Railway Audit and at the
same time he was District Manager of Federal Laboratories.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. How long were you district manager
for them?

MR. IVEY. Only during the time that the Railway Audit Co.
represented Federal Laboratories.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. And how long was that ?

MR. IVEY. I believe about a year and a half.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. And during that time you were
running the Federal Laboratories' business and the Railway
Audit & Inspection Co.'s business at the same time?

MR. IVEY. Well, it was all one.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Out of the Atlanta office?

MR. IVEY. Well, it was all one.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. It Was all One?

MR. IVEY. Yes, sir.

THE RATS' CODE 103

What a pity that this intimate relationship existed for only a year
and a half! However, the couple will be brought together again. It
must be. So wonderful a marriage the union of a detective agency
with a munitions firm cannot be broken permanently. The two
partners have so much in common. Wedlock opens up possibilities
that are breathtaking in their magnitude.

Think of it. A Spy Agency-Munitions Trust that could offer
complete service from start to finish. What a chance! Just imagine
how beautifully the Union-Smashing Strike-breaking Co. Inc.
could function. The Trust could be composed of four departments
each one tying up with the other, and all working together har-
moniously like a well oiled machine. In many cases, the industrial-
ists will seek out the service. When that doesn't happen, then
business can be worked up in some such manner:

1st. The Espionage Department plants a spy in Mr. Industrial-
ist's factory to get the dope on any existing union activity if
there isn't any, he starts it going.

2nd. At the appropriate moment the Sales Division's slickest
salesman approaches Mr. Industrialist and sells him USSBC in-
dustrial service.

3rd. A specially trained operative with a vivid imagination
edits the spy's reports so they are "full of meat," with the usual
effect: Mr. Industrialist is thrown into a panic of fear.

4th. A representative from the Munitions Section finds it a
simple matter to sell the frightened Mr. Industrialist a load of
munitions for "plant protection."

5th. Trouble. Either a strike is called by the union and its offi-
cials when the situation warrants it, or else the spy provokes an
ill-advised strike.

6th. The Strike-Breaking Department immediately answers
Mr. Industrialist's plea for assistance. Several hundred strike-
breakers enter the plant.

yth. Mr. Industrialist's second and much larger order for
munitions is quickly filled.

io 4 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

8th. A riot breaks out as the strike-breaking thugs attack the
unarmed pickets with USSBC Fast-Flite shells and tear gas.

(3 WORKERS KILLED, 14 WOUNDED)

9th. The strike is broken.

loth. A crack salesman now convinces Mr. Industrialist that his
greatest need is strike insurance. More spies and more munitions
are brought to the plant, and the Strike-Breaking Department
supplies a permanent staff of "plant police."

Such a scheme makes sense. How much more sensible that all
these related services be supplied by one big company, e.g., The
Union-Smashing Strike-Breaking Co. Inc., than that a lot of little
separate firms be competing for the different parts of what is
essentially one business. The Trust idea is not new. It has happened
in other fields. Why not in this one?

The obvious first step is to find an experienced person with a
genius for organization. Who will perform for this industry the
organizing job which Rockefeller did for oil and Mellon for alum-
inum ? The man who attempts it must have all the energy, cunning,
and strength of our famous robber barons; he must be ruthless,
dishonest, crafty, diabolical, corrupt, and lawless.

The encouraging thing is that the search for an individual with
all these essential qualities need not be extensive. Most agency
officials today can easily fill the bill.

VI. Employers Organize

We rarely hear, it has been said, of the combinations of masters;
though frequently of those of workmen. But whoever imagines,
upon this account, that masters rarely combine, is as ignorant of
the world as of the subject. Masters are always and everywhere in
a sort of tacit, but constant and uniform combination . . . We
seldom, indeed, hear of this combination, because it is the usual,
and one may say, the natural state of things which nobody ever
hears of.

ADAM SMITH, Wealth of Nations

THAT WAS WRITTEN in 1776, the year we declared our inde-
pendence from England. What was true at that time is more than
ever true today. With the rise of capitalist industry, combinations
of employers have reached their highest development. In the
United States more than 2,000 employers' associations have been
organized.

Why ? Professor Clarence E. Bonnett, in his Employers 9 Associa-
tions in the United States, a standard book on the subject, defines
employers' associations and gives us the reason for their formation:
"Any association, alliance, league or federation which intends to
promote, directly or indirectly, primarily the employers' interest in
relation to labor, is an employers' association."

Usually it's easy to spot an employers' association from its name.
When you hear of the National Association of Manufacturers, or the
Akron Employers' Association, or the National Metal Trades
Association, you know at once what it is. If you read the speeches
delivered at the meetings of the United States Chamber of Commerce
or any of its local branches, the fact that they are employers' associa-

105

106 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

tions devoted to promoting employers* interests becomes plain im-
mediately. You are, however, apt to be fooled by such names as the
"Stark County Tax League," or the "Citizens' Alliance of Ram-
sey and Dakota Counties." These, too, are types of employers'
associations just as any company union is. A good test is: who
puts up the money. If employers' money is used to support an
association, it's a safe bet that its purpose is to promote employers'
interests.

Many employers in the United States feel that it is to their
interest to crush genuine unionism. A major purpose of employers'
associations, therefore, is to smash trade unions. It is no surprise to
us to learn, then, that employers' associations are among the best
clients of the dick agencies. W. Sherman Burns so informs all his
office managers in a letter ordering them to solicit the business of
some one hundred odd associations in every part of the country:

General Instructions

All Office Letter #704

Re: Soliciting, industrial work.

NEW YORK, July 28, 1936
To all offices:

Attached is a list of associations, their addresses, name of
active officer and telephone number. This list was secured by
Mr. Patterson of our Detroit Office, who received information
at the time of securing this list that all of these organizations
are very much interested in industrial undercover work and
have a great deal to say in their respective territories, in an
advisory capacity as to what industrial undercover service
should be utilized by their members.

One of the principal functions of these associations and their
officials is to make a study of the labor movement and to keep
their members advised of all developments concerning their
movement . . .

It is therefore suggested that each manager personally con-
tact with the officials of these organizations in the cities where

United Automobile organizers show a friendly smile as Ford's
service men advance grimly. The unionists are, left to right, Robert
Cantor, Victor Reuther, Richard T. Frankensteen, and J. J.
Kennedy (Pictures, Inc.}

The muffled target in the center is Frankensteen, chief organizer
for the Detroit district. The old guard tactic of pulling up the
coat and then slugging is shown graphically here (Pictures, Inc.]

i

va

Down below The Frankensteen battle took place on the overpass.
Guards go to work on another union man (Pictures, Inc.)

Memorial Day Massacre" at Republic Steel

(Pictures, Inc.)

EMPLOYERS ORGANIZE 107

our offices are located, and in other localities, contact by
mail . . .

W. SHERMAN BURNS

One of the names on the attached list was that of the " Employers
Association of Akron, 500 Central Savings & Trust, Akron, Ohio
. . . H. C. Parsons, Sec." The Burns man whose job it was to
solicit business from Mr. Parsons was doomed to disappointment.
A rival of the Burns agency, the Corporations Auxiliary Co.,
had had the business of this employers' association sewed up for
over a quarter of a century. Mr. Parsons, on the stand, tells the
story. It is a fascinating story. It shows, among other things, that
four manufacturers of tires, in fierce competition with each other,
were able to forget their business enmity and unite in an organiza-
tion presenting a solid front against labor; rivals in business, friends
in anti-labor activities. Nor did their association stand alone. It
had a close connection with similar employers' associations through-
out the country. A local union of manufacturers tied to a national
union. In effect, an A. F. of M. American Federation of Manu-
facturers. Adam Smith knew his stuff.

Here is Mr. Parsons testifying:

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. What is your occupation, Mr. Par-
sons?

MR. PARSONS. I am secretary-treasurer of the Employers'
Association of Akron.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. When was the Employers' Associa-
tion formed, approximately?

MR. PARSONS. I think 1903.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Who are the officers of the association
at present?

MR. PARSONS. There is Mr. Slusser, of Goodyear; Mr. Pit-
tinger, of Firestone . . . Mr. Charles Jahent, of General
Tire . . . Mr. T. G. Graham, factory manager of the B. F.
Goodrich Company.

108 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Are those all on the executive com-
mittee?

MR. PARSONS. That is all.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. The executive committee, then, is
confined to representatives of the tire manufacturing com-
panies in Akron ?

MR. PARSONS. Yes; at the present time.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. How much do the companies pay to
the Employers' Association each year?

MR. PARSONS. It formerly was 5 cents per employee and then
was later raised to 8 cents, and more recently again to 5 cents.
[A list of the members of the association and the amounts of
their contributions, 1933-1936, is in Appendix D.-AUTHOR]

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. What salary did you receive from the
association, Mr. Parsons?

MR. PARSONS. $8,019 this last year.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. What are the chief items of expendi-
ture of the association?

MR. PARSONS. The ordinary office expenditures, salaries,
expenditures for special service.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. What do you mean by "special serv-
ice"?

MR. PARSONS. The service of the Corporations Auxiliary
Co.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. And how long have you had the serv-
ice of Corporations Auxiliary?

MR. PARSONS. As I remember now, there were somewhat the
same services there at the time I became secretary. [33 years
ago]

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. And it has continued throughout
the time you have been secretary?

MR. PARSONS. Off and on, as I remember it; yes.

EMPLOYERS ORGANIZE 109

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Have the activities of labor organ-
izers for outside unions had anything to do with the ebb and
flow of your employment of Corporations Auxiliary ?

MR. PARSONS. Yes.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. They have risen at times when or-
ganizational activity by outside unions was in progress ?

MR. PARSONS. YeS.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. And fallen when they were not ?
MR. PARSONS. That is about right . . .

SENATOR THOMAS. Do you attend annual meetings of other
employers' organizations ?

MR. PARSONS. YeS.

SENATOR THOMAS. What organizations are you affiliated
with in that way?

MR. PARSONS. Well, we are not affiliated. I attend the meet-
ings of the National Association of Manufacturers, the Na-
tional Founders Association, on invitation, the National Metal
Trades, and the National Industrial Conference. We are affili-
ated with the National Industrial Council.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. In 1936 I think the records you fur-
nished the committee indicate that your costs for Corporations
Auxiliary Service were approximately $21,000 . . . The total
of your income in 1936 . . . was $36,000, and your own salary
was $8,000; so it is a fair deduction, is it not, from these figures,
that the bulk of the activities of the employers' association in
Akron was devoted to labor espionage?

MR. PARSONS. I would not say the bulk of the activities,
Senator; I would say the bulk of the expenditures.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. . . . The principal activity of the
association aside from the work that you and your secretary
did with the mimeograph and the meetings and the discussing
of these various matters with representatives of the various

i io THE LABOR SPY RACKET

companies that you have told us about, the principal and sole
activity of the association outside of that was industrial
espionage ?

MR. PARSONS. Yes, that is true.

Now all this testimony of Mr. Parsons was very embarrassing to
Mr. Paul W. Litchfield, the president of the Goodyear Tire and
Rubber Co., who had testified the previous few minutes. His
testimony had sounded sincere, straightforward just what was
to be expected of a great captain of industry. But before Par-
sons had gone very far it developed that Mr. Litchfield was as
much of a twister as the other witnesses perhaps a little worse.
The pious flourish with which he began ended in a complete fizzle.
Read the testimony and witness the collapse of the highly inflated
Goodyear dirigible as it is brought down to earth.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Mr. Litchfield, the committee would
be interested in having your views on the use of labor espionage
and strike-breaking agencies, if you would be so kind as to give
them to us.

MR. LITCHFIELD. When I came with the company in its early
days we had one or two operatives in the plant, which we car-
ried on for several years. In 1913 when we began to grow, my
experience witb that sort of thing was such that it led me to pass on
a firm order that from 1913 on there would be no outside agencies,
no espionage in the plant whatsoever; and I think that policy has
been carried out. We have not employed any outside agency of
espionage or of strike-breaking organizations since I have been
president of the factory, or manager of the company, so far as I
know.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Did you or did you not find that the
use of industrial espionage tended to disrupt the good relations
between employees and the employers?

MR. LITCHFIELD. We were inclined to that opinion.

EMPLOYERS ORGANIZE in

Just the kind of forthright straight-from-the-shoulder statement
that you would expect from the head of one of the greatest com-
panies in the world. Mr. Litchfield felt that the spy system dis-
rupted the good relations between boss and worker, so he firmly
ordered that henceforth there was to be "no espionage in the plant
whatsoever" So far so good. Our schoolboy faith in this great busi-
ness leader is strengthened. Let us go on:

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. As I understand it, the Goodyear
Tire and Rubber Company is a member of the Akron Em-
ployers' Association; is that correct?

MR. LITCHFIELD. Yes; we are members of the Akron Em-
ployers' Association, the same as any trade association or any
other kind of an association.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. And what is your understanding of
the service that the association renders to your company and
other members?

MR. LITCHFIELD. It is just a general clearing bouse of informa-
tion among the manufacturers. I have never questioned very
much as to what service it rendered, on account of the fact that
we just belong, the same as we belong to any trade association,
chamber of commerce, or anything else. We are assessed our
pro rat a share.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Well, I assume that you must feel
that the services rendered are worth while because of your
contribution of $50,000 for 2, years for 4 years, pardon me.
Could you tell us in a little more detail what services the asso-
ciation rendered?

MR. LITCHFIELD. Well, so far as I know, the only thing that has
come to my particular notice is statistics, from time to time, as
to the number employed in each plant, and things of that nature.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Are you familiar with the fact, Mr.
Litchfield, that during the year 1936 the Akron Employers'

ii2 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

Association paid in excess of $21,000, or the bulk of its income
to the Corporations Auxiliary Co. for industrial espionage?

MR. LITCHFIELD. I did not know that; no.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. And had you known it, would such an
expenditure have met with your approval?

MR. LITCHFIELD. It would not so far as our plant is concerned.
What they do outside we do not have anything to do with, in
the management of that association.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Were you aware of the fact that the as-
sociation had undercover men in your plant?

MR. LITCHFIELD. / was not aware of it.

Nothing really wrong so far. It may be argued that Mr. Litch-
field was showing bad judgment in paying out so much of his stock-
holders' money to an association which supplied his firm with noth-
ing more than a kind of statistical service. That may be true. But
on the absence of industrial espionage in his plant he still remains
firm.

Then Parsons testified. Now look for Mr. Litchfield's about-face.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Mr. Litchfield, were you a member of
the executive committee of the association at any time ?

MR. LITCHFIELD. I do not know whether it was the executive
committee or what it was, but I was a representative of Good-
year many years ago, when I was factory manager, in the early
days.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Now, Mr. Litchfield, in order that
the record may be complete, at the time you served on this
executive committee, did you or did you not know of this
arrangement that the association had with Corporations
Auxiliary for undercover men?

MR. LITCHFIELD. I think I did know that they did have that kind
of an arrangement.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. During all the time that you were a
representative of the Goodyear Company in this employers' asso-

EMPLOYERS ORGANIZE 113

ciation you knew, did you not, that they were using undercover
agents?

MR. LITCHFIELD. / think that very likely I was aware of that
fact.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Mr. Litchfield, I understood you, in
response to a question by Senator Thomas, to say you never
took any action while you were representing the Goodyear
Company on the employers' association, to secure an abandon-
ment of their use of industrial espionage technique; is that
correct ?

MR. LITCHFIELD. I do not recall I ever discussed that matter,
except to state my disapproval of the practice. I do not think
I ever pursued it any further.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Did you make any effort after you
assigned someone else to the work, to ascertain whether or
not they had abandoned it?

MR. LITCHFIELD. No; I did not.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. And your company continued to
contribute to the association and be a member of it?

MR. LITCHFIELD. We contributed to that association the
same as a great many others, in that they were one of a large
group and wanted a group to be a clearing house, but we
never attempted to run the association.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. In the last 4 years you were paying
out on the average of $ 17,000 a year to this association. As far
as your knowledge went, you did not know there had been any
change in the policy of this association in the use of industrial
espionage?

MR. LITCHFIELD. No.

Turn back quickly to the opening brave speech of this witness.

Seems like another fellow must have said those things, doesn't it?

The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. was in partnership, through

n 4 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

the Akron Employers' Association, with its biggest business rivals.
The bond that united these competitors was the desire, common to
all of them, to clamp down on the organizational activities of their
workers. When the workers of the Goodyear Co. went out on strike
in 1936, one of those miraculous "citizens' organizations" that
spring up out of thin air to fight the strikers, suddenly made its
appearance. The "Akron Law and Order League" was not a sur-
prise to Mr. Litchfield. He knew it was going to be launched in
fact he had discussed its organization with the presidents of Good-
year's competitors. His own company contributed "something in
the neighborhood of $15,000" to it.

Mr. Litchfield was listening in on the radio when former Mayor
C. Nelson Sparks went on the air for recruits for the Law and
Order League. What was the program of this citizens' organization?
What did Mr. Litchfield hear the nurse of his $15,000 baby say?
Keep the name of the organization in mind as you read the remarks
Mayor Sparks made, after mentioning the names of John Brophy
and several other representatives of labor organizations:

Help us to gang up for constitutional law and order in this
wonderful city. Help us to make this Law and Order League so
representative of public opinion that we can say to those
out-of-town radical leaders, who have lighted the fires of dis-
content in this city, to get the hell out of here, and we are not
going to be too much interested in tbe dignity of their going.

This from the former mayor of the city, the president of the Law
and Order League! Small wonder that The Akron Ee aeon-Journal
was alarmed. Its editorial for March iyth clearly pointed out that
the Sparks' speech was a direct incitation to violence:

No Room for Vigilantes!

The most ominous note yet sounded in the prolonged
Goodyear strike is the call for recruits to a "Law and Order
League." The name is a misnomer.

Resort to organization of a "citizens' vigilante" to open
the Goodyear Company plants is an open invitation to

EMPLOYERS ORGANIZE 115

rioting and violence. It is deliberately provocative and in-
flammatory. It will produce the exact opposite of law and
order . . .

The speeches of former Mayor C. Nelson Sparks, over the
radio Sunday, were unfortunate and ill-advised. He talked
loosely of driving leaders of the strike out of town, imply-
ing that typical vigilante mob methods might be in-
voked . . .

Unfortunately there was not a single note of calm
reasoned thinking in the speech. It was the typical product
of hysteria, when sanity is needed. It was incitation to
trouble, rather than an invitation to peace.

The Sparks move, dearly endorsed by the Goodyear Com-
pany, has evoked a warning from the strikers that violence
would be met with violence. Any man who stopped to
weigh the present tense situation would have known that
the counter-threat was inevitable . . .

If the Law and Order League does not at once abandon
its stupid and dangerous program, then Akron can prepare
itself for a bath of blood . . .

In the face of all this talk of violence, we renew our
appeal for sanity and right-thinking. We are thinking in
terms of human lives. We are thinking in terms of this
city's future. The idea that any group of citizens can take
the law into their own hands cannot be tolerated for a single
minute.

Let there be sanity and industrial peace, not madness
and war.

The italicized words in the foregoing quotation show that there
was no doubt in the editorial writer's mind as to who was behind
the Law and Order League. Nor should there be any doubt in your
mind as to who was behind the Flint Alliance that was so miracu-
lously conceived in the General Motors strike; or the "John Q.
Public League" and similar "citizens' alliance" groups that
sprang up in the recent steel strike. They are all phoney. They are
dummy employers' organizations the newest technique in
strike-breaking.

Convincing proof of this fact was furnished to the La Follette
Committee by Mr. E. T. Cunningham, in his testimony concerning
the RCA strike in Camden, N. J. in 1936. Mr. Cunningham, in
charge of labor relations for RCA, was impressed with a letter of

ii6 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

introduction from Governor Hoffman, presented by Max Sherwood
of the Sherwood Detective Bureau. (The close relationship of many
local, state, and government officials with the dick agencies is
shameful.) Mr. Cunningham hired the Sherwood agency on the
strength of the Hoffman introduction, plus the promises of Sher-
wood and his assistant, Williams. The description of the Sherwood
technique is very revealing:

MR. CUNNINGHAM. . . . Both Sherwood and Williams stated
that the old method of using strike-breakers and violence and
things of that kind to win or combat a strike were things of the
past; that the way to win a strike was to organize community
sentiment; that they had been very successful in handling plans
of that sort. They showed me enrollment slips I cannot
recall the exact title, but it was something like "Citizens' Wel-
fare Committee" of such and such a city. They showed me a
large full page ad, I believe from an Akron newspaper, in con-
nection with a strike. They said they handled that. They sent
men from door to door to get citizens to sign these membership
slips, and if possible to get them to contribute to advertise-
ments which would be run over the name of the so-called citi-
zens' welfare organization, saying good things about the
company and endeavoring in that way to promote a friendly
public attitude to support the company. The details were a
little more than that, but in substance that was the plan.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Did he say, or did you gather from
the newspaper advertisements and the blanks that he showed
you, just what the citizens' committee was to do?

MR. CUNNINGHAM. Well, it was not clear, other than the
favorable public reaction, throwing the weight to one's side as
against the other; that is the only

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Did this Akron newspaper ad, as you
remember, was it signed by a citizens' committee?

MR. CUNNINGHAM. Citizens' welfare committee, or something
like that.

EMPLOYERS ORGANIZE 117

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Was the general effect of the adver-
tisement to create the impression on the reader that the citi-
zens' committee was taking the company side of the affair in
Akron, so to speak?

MR. CUNNINGHAM. Tes; and 'without any apparent identity with
the company; it was to appear as an independent proposal as Jar as
the public was concerned.

SENATOR THOMAS. Did he show you any editorials that he
thought he could have printed in the newspapers as a result of
this advertising?

MR. CUNNINGHAM. There was something on that. My memory
is not very good on just what he did show me, and I would not
want to say exactly, but there was that impression, that edi-
torials and news articles would be developed but that the
citizens would be organized to take the lead in the interest of
the company and employment and they would organize that
and the company apparently was not having anything to do
with it.

SENATOR THOMAS. You apparently got the impression his big
job was to mold public sentiment ?

MR. CUNNINGHAM. That was the impression. At the time, the
strike was something new to me and I thought it was worth
trying.

SENATOR THOMAS. He was to use the radio, newspapers, and
house-to-house methods ?

MR. CUNNINGHAM. YeS, sir.

SENATOR THOMAS. That is what they call missionary work in
spy terminology; to take advantage of any opportunity to
build public sentiment, feeling that pressure from without
would probably do more good than work from within.

MR. CUNNINGHAM. Yes, sir; that was substantially my
understanding.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Mr. Cunningham, at this conference
did they mention the fact that this might also be referred to as a
law and order league, or something like that ?

n8 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

MR. CUNNINGHAM. Yes, sir. That was the main theme, now
that you remind me; yes.

It should be clear from this testimony that those people who join
the "back-to-work" movements, the vigilante committees, law and
order leagues, etc. are the dupes of the strike-breaking dick agencies,
hired by the employers.

Perhaps the most representative of employers' organizations in
the United States is the National Metal Trades Association. For-
tunately, we need no longer guess as to how it functions we
know now, because its officers were witnesses before the La Follette
Committee.

The National Metal Trades Association on January 15, 1937,
had a membership of 952 plants. It takes in those firms which em-
ploy machinists, coppersmiths, boilermakers, pipefitters, etc.
plants engaged in the manufacture of metals. The association be-
gan in 1899 with about forty members. Some of the well-known
member firms are:

Chicago Branch Kelvinator Co.

Continental Can Co. (5 Hartford Branch

plants) United Aircraft Mfg. Co.,

Stewart Warner Corp. Pratt & Whitney Div.

Cleveland Branch Underwood Elliot Co.

AddressographMultigraphCo. Indianapolis Branch

Warner & Swasey Co. Chrysler Corp.

Detroit Branch Columbian Enameling &

Briggs Manufacturing Co. Stamping Co.

Chrysler Corp. Milwaukee Branch

Fisher Body Corp. Allis-Chalmers Mfg. Co.

Kelsey Hayes Wheel Co. Cutler Hammer, Inc.

Murray Corp. of America New York & New Jersey Branch

Timken Detroit Axle Co. Otis Elevator Co., Harrison

Grand Rapids Branch Otis Elevator Co., Yonkers

Grand Rapids Brass Co. Wright Aero. Corp.

EMPLOYERS ORGANIZE 119

Rhode Island Branch St. Louis Branch

Brown & Sharpe Mfg. Co. Continental Can Co. (2 plants)

Morse Twist Drill & Mch. Co. Wagner Elec. Corp.

The membership is based upon plants. Continental Can or
Chrysler, for example, do not take out one membership for all their
plants, but each plant takes out its own individual membership.
The association has twenty-five local branches with headquarters
in Chicago. Each of the branches employs a full-time staff.

Mr. Homer D. Sayre, the Commissioner of the association, is the
chief active official. On the stand, he explained the purpose of the
organization in terms strongly reminiscent of Smith, president of
Corporations Auxiliary: ". . . The membership itself sees the need
for the work of this association, which is the attempt to establish
harmonious and mutual relations in the shops of its members, be-
tween its members and their employees . . . our primary interest
... is to try and get the employer and employee to believe that
their interests are mutual . . ."

Sounds familiar, doesn't it? The pious talk is familiar and the
method of establishing "harmonious relations'* between the em-
ployer and employee whose "interests are mutual" is also familiar.
For the National Metal Trades Association is not only an em-
ployers' get-together group; it is a spy agency and strike-breaking
agency as well. It attains its harmonious relations by the usual
method of union-smashing. It is a stout believer in the principle
of the "open shop" a shop open to non-union members only. It
is very much concerned about the liberty and freedom of the work-
ers in its member plants it defends to the last these workers' in-
alienable right to choose not to belong to a real union. When these
workers fall into error, when they show signs of exercising their
equally inalienable right to join their own union, then the spies go
to work, the men are quietly discharged, and harmonious relations
are again restored. The union men, dubbed "agitators," are black-
listed and peace reigns in the N.M.T.A.

120 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

But even the best laid plans go wrong. Suppose this smooth-
running machinery cracks up and the workers, in their blindness,
forget for a moment that their interests and the boss's are mutual
and go out on a strike. There is still no occasion to worry. The
N.M.T.A. is prepared to meet the situation. Article XIII, Section
3, of its constitution gives assurance to the member plant that
strike-breakers will be furnished up to seven-tenths of the number
of workers for which the member has been paying dues. "In the
case of a strike in the shop of a member, the Association may, upon
request of the member, assist in procuring workers to replace the
strikers; but the number of workers so procured shall not exceed
seven-tenths of the number of striking employees covered by the
member's regular assessment for the current quarter . . ."

Of course the member understands that for this protection he
must be willing to bind himself to obey certain rules of the associa-
tion. The N.M.T.A. is ready, willing, and able to swing into action
on behalf of a stricken member, but he must agree to let them run
the show. Article XIII, Sec. I, makes that clear: "In the conduct of
labor disputes members must proceed in the manner which the
Constitution and By-Laws prescribe, failing in which they shall
forfeit all right to the financial or moral support of the Associa-
tion . . ."

Now what happens if a member calls upon the association to
help fight a strike, and then either because he is lily-livered and
can't stand seeing his workers attacked by the guards, or because
he has come round to seeing that the strikers have just grievances,
or because the strike is making him suffer heavy business losses, he
decides to settle the strike? What happens? Can he meet with the
men and end the dispute ? Not on your life. It's not up to him. It's
for the N.M.T.A. to decide if, when, and how a strike in this mem-
ber plant shall be terminated: "Article XIII, Sec. 7, Penalty for
Settling Without Approval of Administrative Council. If, without the
consent of the Administrative Council, a member shall settle a
difference or strike, the defense of which has been assumed by the
Association, such member shall repay to the Association all the

EMPLOYERS ORGANIZE 121

moneys which the Association may have expended on account of
having assumed defense of such difference or strike, and shall also
be liable to suspension or expulsion."

Does this seem a bit high handed? It isn't. It's a smart tactic. In
fighting a war it's always best to have a unified command. The
N.M.T.A. knows that in fighting for the employers against the
workers, the safest and strongest procedure is a united front col-
lective action on the part of the employers. The workers have also
learned that collective action is best. That's why they organize into
unions. But what the N.M.T.A. wants for its own side, it is not at
all willing to grant to the other side. Mr. Sayre was very reluctant
to admit this, but judge for yourself:

SENATOR THOMAS. So that you have an organization which
has all the possibilities of collective action on the part of the
employers ?

MR. SAYRE. Yes; I presume that is correct, in the preservation
of the open shop.

SENATOR THOMAS. So that you have certain machinery set
up that you can bring unity of stand, unity of action, unity
of opinion about certain definite things?

MR. SAYRE. Yes; for the principle of the open shop that we
stand for.

SENATOR THOMAS. If you take the words of your constitution,
do not they mean this, that "We want collective action for
ourselves and we want to forestall collective action on the
part of the employees?"

MR. SAYRE. Well, that is not the policy of the association.
We do not do that.

SENATOR THOMAS. In spite of what it says here?

MR. SAYRE. That is right.

SENATOR THOMAS. I am right in implying that from the
words, am I not?

122 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

MR. SAYRE. Well, that would simply be an opinion. I do not
think I would care to express an opinion on it.

SENATOR THOMAS. Well, has it not worked that way?

MR. SAYRE. No; it has not worked that way.

SENATOR THOMAS. Haven't you been more interested in
keeping the employers on a collective-action basis than seeing
that the employees get on a collective-action basis?

MR. SAYRE. Yes; in that respect that is correct.

What infinite patience was required to get these witnesses to
give to words their obvious meaning! Mr. Sayre, like the dick
agency officials and labor-relations directors of the big corpora-
tions, displayed amazing speed in spotting what labor was doing
that his side didn't like, but he could seldom quite make the grade
in discovering what his side was doing that labor didn't like. He
didn't like to be helped either. And he certainly didn't enjoy Senator
La Follette's and Senator Thomas's nasty habit of asking questions
that would clarify some of his pretty speeches.

For example, Mr. Sayre proclaims, "... I think, generally
speaking, the employers throughout the country are willing at any
time to deal with their employees, either individually or collec-
tively. What many of them object to is to dealing with outside
representatives."

Now see what the questioning brought out in regard to that
beautiful sentiment:

SENATOR THOMAS. What do you mean by outside representa-
tives ?

MR. SAYRE. Well, I mean business agents of a union and men
of that description, that are not employed by the company.

SENATOR THOMAS. Would not your organization be an outside
agency from the employees' standpoint?

MR. SAYRE. I presume that is correct.

SENATOR THOMAS. What if an employee organization should
be set up and they should make the charge that they are against

EMPLOYERS ORGANIZE 123

the closed shop theory in regard to the employers; would that
not put your organization right out of existence?

MR. SAYRE. It might, if the employers agreed to that.

Commissioner Sayre got into other difficulties. Not only did he
have to admit that his organization was just as much an "outside
agency" as the business agents of a union were, but he had to
admit further that the N.M.T.A. was opposed to its members
making collective bargaining agreements. He had been stoutly
maintaining that the association was not opposed to its members
employing union workers, but that it was opposed to its members
signing closed shop agreements with unions. Under Senator La
Follette's questioning he had to concede that the N.M.T.A. was
opposed to its members signing even collective bargaining agree-
ments. This admission came hard, but it came.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. In other words, when you say you
are opposed to a closed shop, what you really mean, if I under-
stand you, is that you are opposed to any collective bargaining
whereby the majority of the employees are designated as rep-
resentatives of all of the employees for the purpose of signing
an agreement, which affects the working conditions, the hours,
and the wages of all the employees in the plant; is that not a
fair statement?

MR. SAYRE. Well, we are opposed

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. (interrupting) No; I say, is that not a
fair statement ?

MR. SAYRE. I do not want to make a mistake on it.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. I do not want you to make any mis-
take.

MR. SAYRE. That is the point. I want to be perfectly honest
in the thing. As I said, we are opposed to the closed shop,
Senator.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. You have said that a good many
times and I understand all about that, but I understood from
your testimony that what you regarded as a closed shop was

i2 4 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

an agreement entered into between the employees, that no
one in that shop could be employed who did not belong to a
particular union. Is that correct?

MR. SAYRE. That is correct.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. All right. Now I am anxious to get
your honest, straight-forward opinion ... of a different
situation, not a closed shop in the sense that all employees
have to belong to a particular union, but a shop in which the
employer recognizes the right of a majority of his employees to
represent all of the employees in the plant, regardless of
whether they belong to a union or not, for the purpose of
entering into a contractual relation between the employees
and the employer affecting hours, wages, and working con-
ditions, and other things of interest to the employees.

MR. SAYRE. Well, we would probably say to that company
that we felt that such an agreement was not justice to the mi-
nority, and would suggest that when the time came for renew-
ing the agreement again that he should take that into con-
sideration. I do not think, I am quite sure, the association
would expel a company for that.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. . . . Do you know of any member
of your association that has the kind of collective bargaining
agreement that I described in my previous question ?

MR. SAYRE. I do not recall offhand.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. You would be very disturbed, would
you not, if one or several members of your association began
to enter into the kind of agreements that I have suggested ?

MR. SAYRE. Yes; I would.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. And you would bring it to the at-
tention of the administrative executive council?

MR. SAYRE: Yes; I would; yes, sir.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Do you not think the executive coun-
cil would be disturbed about it ?

MR. SAYRE. I think it would.

EMPLOYERS ORGANIZE 125

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. All right. I think we understand
each other, Mr. Sayre.

In the record there is an example of just such a case. Only Mr.
Sayre did not need to refer the matter to the administrative ex-
ecutive council. He prevented the signing of the agreement between
the N.M.T.A. member and the union by smashing the union.
Follow the sequence of steps:

On April 25, 1934, the workers in the Morse Twist Drill & Ma-
chine Co. of New Bedford, Mass, (member of the N.M.T.A.) held
an election under the auspices of the National Labor Relations
Board, to determine who should represent them in collective bar-
gaining with the company.

On April 27, 1934, the result of the election was communicated
to the company by the N.L.R.B.:

April 27, 1934
MORSE TWIST DRILL & MACHINE Co.,

New Bedford, Mass.

Gentlemen: The results of the election held by this Board for
the employees of the Morse Twist Drill & Machine Co., held
in New Bedford on April 25, 1934, for the purpose of deter-
mining who shall represent the employees in collective bar-
gaining are as follows:

American Federation of Labor representatives .... 272

Local shop committee 10

Miscellaneous 2

Total ballots cast 284

We enclose a copy of the President's Executive order of
February I, 1934, as amended of February 23, 1934.
Yours very truly,

S. C. BARTLETT, JR.,
Executive Secretary.

The National Labor Relations Board officials carried out their
instructions according to law. They held and properly supervised

126 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

an election in the Morse Twist Drill Co. plant. They notified the
company of the result. The next step should have been the signing
of a collective bargaining agreement between the company and
the union which had been elected by the workers to represent them.

But there is more than one way of skinning a cat.

All was not lost, not by a long shot. The N.M.T.A. could fix
things up. No one can sign an agreement with a union that doesn't
exist. So

On April 28, 1934, application for a post office box in New
Bedford was filed by Mr. George Lichtenberger. He was assigned
Box No. 152.

Mr. George Lichtenberger was a spy Operative 187 in the
employ of the N.M.T.A. He was sent in with orders to smash
the union. He succeeded, according to the affidavit of a man who
was in a position to know, Ferdinand Sylvia, A. F. of L. organizer:

Both the Revere Brass and the Morse 'Twist Drill unions with
which Lichtenberger was identified have disintegrated ... I
believe that in both these cases the real destructive influence
was the action and attitude of Lichtenberger, particularly in
the Morse Twist Drill where I had organized 127 members
with full initiation fees and with the prospects of a potential
organization of more than 500 members and where we had
immediate success in raising wages and in securing recognition
for purposes of collective bargaining through a national labor
board election. Because of his influential position in the local
and as a delegate to the New Bedford Central Labor Union,
Lichtenberger was able to demoralize the members and the
prospective members of the Morse Twist Drill Local by dis-
crediting the organizers and by his efforts within the or-
ganization.

FERDINAND SYLVIA.

Neat work, wasn't it? The N.M.T.A. officials were not boasting
when they advised their own and prospective members that the
association's "Private Detective Service" offered many advan-

EMPLOYERS ORGANIZE 127

tages over the industrial service of the ordinary spy agencies.
According to Mr. E. C. Davison, Mayor of Alexandria, and secre-
tary-treasurer of the International Association of Machinists, the
N.M.T.A. could be proud of the activities of its undercover men:

MR. DAVISON. . . . In 1901 they became very active and

began the process of placing in our organization undercover

men, stool-pigeons, for the purpose of framing the officials

of the organization, both local and international our trou-

ibles were continuous.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. What do you mean by "framing"?

MR. DAVISON. By getting them into positions that are, I
would say, unbearable; destroying their homes, if possible, by
anonymous letters, many of which I have myself received in
my earlier days, writing to our wives that we were familiar
with other women, writing letters signing the names of women
that would be sent to our homes, addressed to us, knowing full
well that most of our wives take care of our mail at home . . .

There's a tactic which even the dick agencies wouldn't stoop to.

The N.M.T.A. spies know the advantage of becoming officials
in the union. When James Matles, grand lodge representative of
the International Association of Machinists, was shown a list of
the undercover operatives of the N.M.T.A. and the places where
they had worked, he recognized some of them as important union
officials: "I see the name of Ernest Goetz, Operator 249, Otis
Elevator, Yonkers, Worthington Pump, Ford Instrument Co., at
which company he is employed now; he is a member of Lodge 295,
Long Island City; he holds the office of trustee at the present time
... I see the name further on of Arthur Brook, Operator 433,
Silver & Pewter Manufacturers Association, New York, and later
as general operator. He is at present a member of the executive
board of Lodge 416 in Brooklyn ... I see here also one other
important man. His name is A. W. Allten, Operative 479, the
Wright Aeronautical Co., Paterson, N. J. This man is holding office
now as secretary of the lodge and has all the records of every sinele

128 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

member working in Wright's. He is president of the State con-
ference of the International Association of Machinists, a conference
representing 12 or 14 lodges in that state."

Members of the N.M.T.A. are assured that their every request
for aid in case of "trouble'* (union activity) will be given prompt
consideration. In April 1935 the Sunbeam Electric Co. of Evans-
ville needed help. The reason is given in a letter from the secretary
of the St. Louis Branch of the association to the national secretary:

... Of their [Sunbeam Electric Co.] employees who belong
to this federal union, three are particularly active and per-
nicious. The company would like to get rid of these three
men and if you can suggest any way that they can accomplish
this without laying themselves liable to a charge before the Regional
Labor Board, they would appreciate it very much. All three
of them are very careful to do their work in such a way that it
will not be possible to discharge them on those grounds and
their union activities are carried on outside the plant and in
union meetings . . . Mr. Schroeder believes that the interests
of the firm require their immediate dismissal. How can it be
done?

Did this employers' association, run by the high-minded Mr.
Sayre, refuse indignantly to assist the Sunbeam Electric Co. vio-
late the law? It did not. Did the N.M.T.A. write to the Sunbeam
Electric Co. that its employees had a perfect right to do what they
were doing? It did not. It came to the aid of its stricken member
Operative 116 was assigned to the case.

The N.M.T.A. is prepared to give to its members strike-breaking
and "guard" service as well as spy service. In 1936 it had a "de-
fense fund" of over $200,000 to use for strike-breaking purposes.
(Incidentally, it paid no taxes on this war chest, because it is a "vol-
untary association.") Any outfit that is in the strike-breaking
business is of great interest to the munitions firms. Mr. Ailes,
vice-president of the Lake Erie Chemical Co. recognized that fact.
On May 28, 1936, he wrote to one of his agents:

EMPLOYERS ORGANIZE 129

Dear Northcott: You will recall that I wrote to you several
times about the National Metal Trades Association with
headquarters in Chicago, tfbis outfit is a great potential source of
business, and I think we have overlooked a bet in not getting
better acquainted with them . . .

They have a membership consisting of the most prominent
metal-working concerns in the U. S.

I did not know until recently that this concern furnished
guards , strike-breakers^ and tbe like for industrial concerns be-
longing to tbeir association. However, they do so, and dictate
the defensive sources or materials that the members should
buy . . .

Mr. Ailes was not a moment too soon. For at the very moment he
was writing his letter, a strike was in progress at the Black & Decker
Electric Co. of Kent, Ohio. This was a member firm of the N.M.T.A.
and Mr. Ailes succeeded in "getting better acquainted" just in the
nick of time. On June 18, the association's "guards" put into use
the Lake Erie Chemical Co.'s products. Here is the story from the
sworn testimony of Mr. C. A. Gadd, business representative for
the International Association of Machinists:

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. State the circumstances that led to
the violence.

MR. GADD. Two trucks drove up there at 6 o'clock in the
morning and crashed through the gate, men jumped out of
them with sawed-off shotguns and tear gas guns.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Approximately how many men
were in the trucks ? Do you remember ?

MR. GADD. Well there were forty-some. I was under the im-
pression there were forty nine of them altogether. They started
shooting tear gas and shooting with the shotguns. They had
some of the pickets that were suffering from gas taken to the
hospital. One picket was shot in the right leg, gassed, and some
of the other pickets were slightly wounded. One, by the name
of Gray, was shot in the face with some buckshot . . .

130 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Were any women hurt?

MR. GADD. Yes, sir. There was a Mrs. Broffman . . . She
had a gas shell explode right at her feet. She is still suffering
from the effects of it [7 months after the shooting I-AUTHOR] . . .

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Were there munitions found in the
plant?

MR. GADD. Yes, sir.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. What kind of munitions?

MR. GADD. There were five sawed-off shotguns, five tear gas
guns, long range guns, one full case and one part of a case of
long range tear gas shells; there was quite a quantity of small
arms ammunition, shotgun shells, and there were about a
bushel basket full of revolvers and automatic pistols.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. In the course of your negotiations
for the agreement which was entered into subsequent to the
removal of the guards, did you have any discussion with Mr.
Lamb about the hiring of the guards ?

MR. GADD. After the agreement was signed he said he did not
hire any guards, that they turned the settlement of the strike
over to the agency. He did not name the agency at that time.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. It has been developed in the testi-
mony that it was the National Metal Trades Association.

MR. GADD. That is right.

Though Mr. Sayre explained at the beginning of his testimony
that the purpose of the association was "to establish harmonious
relations" between employers and employees, the complete record
in no sense bears him out. As a matter of fact, when N.M.T.A.
officials met with any employer who did try to establish peaceful
relations with unionized workers, they did everything they could
to change his point of view. Two cases from the record illustrate
this point.

The first concerns Mr. George E. Deming, vice president of the

EMPLOYERS ORGANIZE 131

Philco Radio Co. of Philadelphia. Mr. Deming, it appears, did not
stop with making pretty speeches about workers having the right
to belong to unions of their own choosing, but he actually believed
it and his company signed an agreement with the union. That,
in itself, would have made him an object of scorn to N.M.T.A.
officials. But that wasn't all. Mr. Deming happened to be the em-
ployer-member of the mayor's labor committee and dared to stick
to the position that other employers should sign agreements with
the unions. That was more than Mr. L. A. Stringham, head of the
N. Y. branch office of the N.M.T.A., could stand. He was in-
dignant, and on March 8, 1936, wrote to Commissioner Sayre for
advice. Part of that letter reads: "Deming is the best thing the
A. F. of L. has in Philadelphia, and his constant agitation in favor
of the A. F. of L. is adding strength to the organized labor move-
ment.

" This man should be broken down. Can you suggest anything that
we can do to offset his activities?' 1

Four days later came the Commissioner's answer, short and to
the point:

Dear Mr. Stringham : The next time you see Mr. Keller I
would suggest that you give him the benefit of your opinion
regarding Mr. Deming's attitude on labor problems.

That is Mr. Sayre's advice in answer to Stringham's request for a
method of "breaking down" Mr. Deming, the employer-friend of
labor. It doesn't make sense until you understand that one of
Philco's chief customers was the Chrysler Corporation, that Walter
Chrysler was a stockholder in the Philco Co., and that Mr. Keller
was the President of the Chrysler Corporation.

Get it? Mr. Deming, vice president of the Philco Co., dared to
believe that labor had the right to organize and bargain collectively.
He was to be "broken down" by having pressure brought to bear
on him through Mr. Keller of Chrysler, one of his biggest customers.

Commissioner Sayre evidently knew all the tricks of the game,
didn't he?

132 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

The second case is similar. A solicitor for an employers' open shop
organization in Cleveland, tried to enroll Mr. Frank W. Caldwell,
a dealer in Dodge cars there. Imagine his surprise and disgust at
learning from Mr. Caldwell that he believed in collective bargain-
ing, and that he had signed an agreement with his employees'
union! The N.M.T.A. learned about Mr. Caldwell. Though it
wasn't any of their business since Mr. Caldwell was not eligible for
membership in the N.M.T.A.; nevertheless Mr. Sayre evidently
thought Mr. CaldwelPs condition was serious, and he proposed a
remedy. He took the trouble to write a letter to Mr. Keller telling
him about the attitude toward labor of Mr. Caldwell, the Dodge
dealer who sold cars made by the Chrysler Corporation. It was indeed
fortunate for the Chrysler Corporation that Commissioner Sayre
didn't spot many more pro-labor employers with Chrysler connec-
tions, else President Keller would have had a full-time job just
bringing pressure to bear where Sayre thought it was needed.

If a small Dodge dealer could arouse Commissioner Sayre so
much, just imagine how his heart must have sunk, when he learned
that Gerard Swope, Chairman of the Board of the great General
Electric Company, was making eyes at unions! The horrible news
came from the faithful Stringham in a report on an interview with
Mr. Hinds of the Crouse Hinds Company, makers of electric
signals.

Mr. Hinds said that Mr. Crouse had evidently fallen for some
of the talk he had heard coming from Girard Swope, of the Gen-
eral Electric Company, who was attempting to eliminate from
industry the National Association of Manufacturers, the Nation-
al Founders Association, and N.M.T.A. [that must have taken
Sayre's breath away!-AuTHOR] That at a meeting in New
York of the N.E.M.A. a couple of weeks ago, Swope attacked
the above three associations; said they were out of the picture
now, and could not do anything since j-A [of the National In-
dustrial Recovery Act] and the Labor Boards were instituted;
that there was no need of them any more; that every one would

EMPLOYERS ORGANIZE 133

have to go along with the President from now on, and follow
out his policies, etc. Manufacturers and members of the
N.E.M.A. who were also in the three associations referred to,
would not have to pay any more dues, but go along with the
President and save their money.

Mr. Hinds agrees that Swope is a dangerous man for industry;
that his wife, a former pal of Jane Adams of the Hull House, is
active with him in their parlor pink activities.

Later on in the evening, conferred with our Syracuse cor-
respondent and he informed me that he had just received a
letter from Schenectady which advised him of a meeting . . .
held in the General Electric office building, attended by the
district officers of the four lodges of the International Associa-
tion of Machinists, Schenectady, and was presided over by
Girard Swope and George Bowen of the I. A.M.

Here again the record is clear. Mr. Swope's wife was a pal of
Jane Adams mark him as "a parlor pink"; Mr. Swope believed
in negotiating with trade unions mark him as "a dangerous man
for industry." We don't know whether Commissioner Sayre tried
his usual tactic of communicating with President Keller of the
Chrysler Corporation in this instance; we do know from another
letter in the record that he expected to "make good use of the in-
formation" that Stringham had given him.

To what fantastic lengths the imagination of an employers'
group runs when it meets an industrialist who deals with the
union of his employees, is beautifully illustrated from another
Stringham-to-Sayre letter. It is dated January 2, 1935, and part of
it reads:

. . . Counsel for the manufacturers and associations, during
their deliberations, woke to the fact that there was a leak
among their own group and through an investigation it is said
that Gerard Swope was not only informant for the other side of
the fence but was keeping them thoroughly advised and alive to
everything that went on in the manufacturers* meetings.

134 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

A pretty spectacle! The major officials of one of the leading em-
ployers' associations in the U. S. labelling Gerard Swope, head of
the General Electric Co., an informant! Perhaps the explanation
lies in the fact that they themselves are so used to the employment
of spies that they suspect everybody else, particularly an em-
ployer who so far forgets his position as to respect the rights of his
employees to bargain collectively.

Another organization of employers which deserves attention is
the National Association of Manufacturers, which one of its officers
has described as "the most powerful body of business men which
has ever been organized in any land, or in any age." The N.A.M. has
in the U. S. over five thousand active and associate members; it has
as affiliates over thirty state and several hundred local manufactur-
ers' organizations, as well as many national trade associations.

Like the N.M.T.A., it states, as one of its purposes "the better-
ment of the relations between employer and employee," but its
program for fulfilling that aim is quite different. It is not, directly,
a spy and strike-breaking agency. It concerns itself instead, with
the relations between business and government, and centers much
of its attention on legislation opposing those measures which
threaten the power of business, and supporting (often helping to
initiate) those measures which favor business. It concerns itself,
too, with the shaping of public opinion in regard to industry.

For that job it is extremely well equipped. It has a treasury large
enough to enable its Public Relations Committee to make extensive
use of every propaganda medium in the country. At the annual
convention of the N.A.M. on December 8, 1936, the chairman of
the committee, Mr. Harry A. Bullis, gave the following report of
the widespread activities of his committee in carrying industry's
message to every American home.

<Tbe Press
Industrial Press Service reaches 5300 weekly newspapers

every week.
Weekly cartoon service sent to 2000 weekly newspapers.

EMPLOYERS ORGANIZE 135

"Uncle Abner Says" comic cartoon appearing in 309 daily
papers with a total circulation of 2,000,000 readers.

"You and Your Nation's Affairs" daily articles by well-
known economists appearing in 260 newspapers with a total
circulation of over 4,500,000.

Factual bulletin monthly exposition of industry's viewpoint
sent to every newspaper editor in the country.

For foreign-born citizens weekly press service, translated
into German, Hungarian, Polish, and Italian, printed in
papers with a total circulation of almost 2,500,000.

Nation-wide advertising 6 full page ads about the "Ameri-
can System," of which over 500 newspapers have carried one
or more.

The Radio

"The American Family Robinson" program heard from
coast to coast over 222 radio stations once a week, and over
176 stations twice a week.

Foreign language 1 188 programs in 6 languages over 79 radio
stations.

The Movies

Two lo-minute films for general distribution, seen by over
2,000,000 people.

Public Meetings

70 meetings featuring 8 professional speakers.

Employee Information Service

Leaflets a series of 25 distributed to over 1 1,000,000 workers.
Posters over 300,000 of a series of 24 for bulletin boards in

plants throughout the country.
Films 10 sound slide films for showing in plants.

Outdoor advertising

60,000 billboard ads scheduled for 1937.

136 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

Pamphlets

"You and Industry Library" over 1,000,000 copies of a
series of seven pamphlets distributed to libraries, colleges,
business men, lawyers, and educators.

Mr. Bullis admitted that when he himself contemplated the scope
of the N.A.M. public relations program, it took his breath away.
He told the convention, "I am always amazed at its completeness
and the way in which it reaches into every section of the country
and all strata of society."

Of the truth of that statement there can be no doubt.

Both the N.M.T.A. and the N.A.M. are big well known employ-
ers' organizations with a fairly open membership. There is another
type of combination of employers which is small, more or less
secretive, with restricted membership. An outstanding example of
such a group is the "special conference committee," which meets
once a month in the office of its secretary, Mr. E. S. Cowdrick, on
the 24th floor of Radio City. The personnel men of a group of select
important corporations make up this committee. The corporations
are world-famous: General Motors, Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey,
U. S. Rubber Co., U. S. Steel, Bethlehem Steel, International
Harvester, A. T. & T., Goodyear Tire & Rubber, Irving Trust Co.,
Du Pont Co., General Electric, and Westinghouse. No more. Each
corporation, if not the greatest in its field, is certainly one of the
greatest.

Several members of the group were on the stand before the La
Follette committee. They testified that the principal order of busi-
ness at the monthly meetings was a presentation by each member
of a resume of business conditions of his company and of the labor
situation; legislation such as J-A of N.I.R.A. and the Social Security
Act was also discussed. Minutes of each meeting were kept and sent
to the members of the committee, but the three General Motors
witnesses who testified said that they had destroyed their copies.
The questioning did bring out, however, that this conference com-
mittee, while presumably merely a discussion group, became, in

EMPLOYERS ORGANIZE 137

effect, a common policy-making group; i.e., in the pooling of com-
mon experiences on labor-relations, the successful technique of
one firm could be adopted by the others. This was true of
company unions every corporation represented bad a company
union.

Similarly, one member might report on the successful method his
company used to put over salary reductions, and the other members
would probably try to institute the same procedure in their plants.
Mr. Hale of General Motors told how impressed he had been at
hearing Joe Larkin, Bethlehem Steel Committee member, describe
a clever method of bringing strong union men into line:

I think it was in connection with one of the subsidiaries of
Bethlehem Steel, if I remember; it was the Fall River Ship-
building Co. where they had several very antagonistic men
elected to the works council, very strong union men, you might
say, and inclined to be we might use the term broadly
radical in their views, and the point was brought out there that
when they got them into the picture and these men had an op-
portunity, through that medium, to see some of the company's
problems, how they were going at things, that they became sup-
porters for the company's policies. I remember that particular
discussion.

This kind of learning from the other fellow's experience is usual
we all do it. It was to be expected that these labor-relations
directors of different large corporations, faced with the same prob-
lems, would join together to discuss those problems and their solu-
tion. (Look at a Goodyear letter to Mr. Cowdrick, Appendix E,
for an example of how full the members' reports to the committee
were.) Similarly, it was to be expected that a group of open shop
employers, desirous of keeping unionism out of their plants, would
join together in an organization like the N.M.T.A.; nor need anyone
be surprised that manufacturers the country over, hoping to present
a united front on legislative and labor matters, would join together
in a powerful propaganda organization like the N.A.M. The fact

i 3 8 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

that employers organize was not a surprise to Adam Smith way
back in 1776. It should not be a surprise to us.

Employers are staunch believers in organization for them-
selves. They not only believe in it they practice it. Remember
that, the next time you read about the fight they wage against
trade unions, the organizations of the workers.

VII. "The American Way

NOW LET'S STOP to look at the picture.

Workers in plants throughout the United States want to form
unions and bargain collectively. They want to organize. Industrial-
ists in plants throughout the United States also want to organize.
They do. Nobody stops them. But these same industrialists are
opposed to the efforts of their workers to organize and bargain col-
lectively. The industrialists do not oppose unionization in word,
but they do in deed. Spies are hired by the industrialists to help
them in their fight against trade unions.

What is a spy? Let us turn to the Oxford Dictionary, "spy a
person employed in time of war to obtain secret information
regarding the enemy." Spy is a war term. And labor spies
are part of the industrial war. Understand, the opponents
in this war are not the workers on the one side and the
detective agencies on the other. Not at all. The detective agencies
are the tools of the employers. They are paid by the employers.
They would play no part in the war unless they were hired to do so.
The line-up in this war is employers vs. workers, Capital vs. Labor.

Richard Frankensteen, on the stand before the La Follette com-
mittee, made the point that the people to blame for the spy system
were not the spies, but the employers who hired them: "I would
like to make this observation. I at one time listened in on a trial
before Judge Moinet, a Federal judge in Detroit, and he had on
trial a narcotic salesman, and he pointed out this man was not a
dope-taker, and he said to this man, 'I am going to give you the
highest penalty that the law allows me to give, because I think you
are much worse than the man who takes dope, than the average addict,
because he is a weak man.'

139

i 4 o THE LABOR SPY RACKET

"I think men who pose as decent citizens, men like Weckler
[vice-president of De Soto Motor Corporation, Chrysler subsidiary
-AUTHOR] and K. T. Keller, men of that type are in the same category
as that dope salesman ... I want to say that the type of men that
are hired for these spy jobs are the lowest type of criminals that you
can find. Many of them have criminal records a mile long, and yet
the same corporations, Mr. Keller , Mr. Weckler , and the rest of 'them ,
hire these men and still walk around as decent citizens, and I say
they are not."

Of course the dick agencies are not free from blame. We have
seen that in carrying out their business of union-smashing, they
employ revolting methods, they lack moral scruples, they break
the law. Nevertheless, since they are merely hired agents, it is cor-
rect to say that the detective agencies are not the real force opposed
to the workers. Facing the workers in their struggle for unioniza-
tion and collective bargaining are the industrialists who hire the
agencies to carry on their work of destruction and pay them hand-
somely for it.

The workers' struggle for unionization is a hard one. The employ-
ing class is a formidable enemy. Then why do workers persist in
the fight? Chief Justice Hughes of the United States Supreme Court
gave the answer in the majority decision in the Jones-Laughlin
Labor Board Case: "Long ago we stated the reason for labor or-
ganizations. We said that they were organized out of the necessities
of the situation; that a single employee was helpless in dealing with
an employer; that he was dependent ordinarily on his daily wage
for the maintenance of himself and family; that if the employer
refused to pay him the wages that he thought fair, he was neverthe-
less unable to leave the employ and resist arbitrary and unfair
treatment; that union was essential to give laborers opportunity to
deal on an equality with their employer."

This is not the first time that the United States Supreme Court
has held that workers standing alone are not on equal terms with
employers, that only by organizing into unions can they expect to

"THE AMERICAN WAY" 141

"deal on an equality with their employer." As long ago as 1898 the
Court held that "the proprietors of these establishments and their
operatives [workers] do not stand upon an equality . . . the pro-
prietors lay down the rules and the laborers are practically con-
strained to obey them."

One group wants to sell labor, the other group wants to buy
labor. But according to the Supreme Court and to every student of
the subject, the two groups are not equal in strength. The laborers
organize into unions so they can have a voice, with the proprietors,
in "laying down the rules." That's the purpose of unionization, of
collective bargaining. The men who join labor unions are the work-
ers who have learned from experience, and from the Supreme Court
and other official government bodies, that only in union can they
obtain the strength they need to bargain on equal terms with their
employers.

Any one reading the sugared statements of our captains of in-
dustry would never for a moment believe that they are opposed to
this fundamental first step of their workers. No dispute between
capital and labor is ever complete without a pretty speech by the
employer that he is not at all opposed to unionization or collective
bargaining. That's what he says. What he does is quite another
matter. This is an old story. It was true many years ago. It was true
in 1912. It is true today.

The 1912 experience is illuminating. In that year Congress passed
an act calling for the creation of a Commission on Industrial Rela-
tions, which was to inquire into the existing relations between em-
ployers and employees. The Commission consisted of nine members,
three representing the employers, three the employees, and three
the general public. The Commission held public hearings for about
six months; it heard witnesses affiliated with employers, with labor,
and with neither. Part of its report reads: "It is very significant
that out of 230 representatives of the interests of employers, chosen
largely on the recommendations of their own organizations, less
than half a dozen have denied the propriety of collective action on

I 4 2

THE LABOR SPY RACKET

the part of employees. A considerable number of 'these witnesses have,
however, testified that they denied in practice what they admitted to be
right in theory"

This denial of the workers' right to organize still goes on. It is the
primary cause of labor disputes. Contrary to general opinion, the
fact is that in most of the strikes that are called in the U. S., the
major issue is not wages and hours, but matters pertaining to union
organization and recognition. The latest figures from the U. S. De-
partment of Labor show that this is true:

MAJOR ISSUES INVOLVED IN STRIKES, 1934-1936

*9

34

'9

35

*9

S^

All issues

Number

Per cent
of total

Number

Per cent

Number

Per cent

1856

IOO.O

2014

IOO.O

2156

IOO.O

Wages and hours
Union organization ....
Miscellaneous

727

853
276

39-3
45-9
14.8

769
952

2Q7

38.2

47-3
14. c

756
1083

717

35-i
50.2

14.7

Notice that in every case, the issue of union organization and
recognition was the primary cause of strikes; and that in 1936,
this was the issue involved in more than half the disputes.

The blame for much of our industrial warfare thus lies at the
doorstep of those employers who refuse to allow workers to unionize
and have representatives of their own choosing. In the Jones-
Laughlin decision the Supreme Court said this in so many words:
"Experience has abundantly demonstrated that the recognition of
the right of employees to self-organization and to have representa-
tives of their own choosing for the purpose of collective bargaining
is often an essential condition of industrial peace. Refusal to confer
and negotiate has been one of the most prolific causes of strife. This is
such an outstanding fact in the history of labor disturbances that

"THE AMERICAN WAY" 143

it is a proper subject of judicial notice and requires no citation of
instances."

There was a time when employers were within their legal rights
in refusing "to confer and negotiate." But today that is no longer
true. The fact that some industrialists still continue to defy the
law, places squarely on their shoulders the responsibility for the
bloodshed resulting from industrial strife. It is a discouraging fact
that so many of them leaders in their communities continue
to carry that responsibility. They are quick to shout "agitators"
as soon as a strike breaks out, yet it is they who are the real agita-
tors, they who are the true disturbers of the peace.

When The New Tork Herald Tribune in its lead editorial on
February 10, 1937 said, "It is now recognized by custom and law
in this country that labor has the right to organize, to bargain col-
lectively through representatives of its own choosing and to strike",
it was only half correct. // is now recognized by law the National
Labor Relations Act, passed by Congress in July 1935, gave labor
those rights. But it is not now recognized by custom no employer
of labor spies recognizes it. The policies of Congress as declared in
the Wagner Act are completely defeated by industrial espionage.
Those industrialists who have hired labor spies have violated the
law.

What are we to think of these revelations of unfair and illegal
industrial practices on the part of employers? Mr. Walter Lipp-
mann, in his column in The Herald Tribune, March 6, 1937, tells us
what to think: "As long as big business stood intrenched behind its
Pinkertons and its dogmas, it was in fact imbued with the psychol-
ogy of class war, however much it might deplore the idea when
openly preached from a soapbox. The refusal to recognize the unions
and to negotiate with them could not by any possibility be de-
scribed as an attitude of peace; among nations the equivalent is a
refusal to have diplomatic relations, an act just short of war which
generally leads to war."

Thus put on our guard by Mr. Lippmann we need not be taken in

i 4 4 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

by such statements as the following made by Mr. Alfred P. Sloan,
Jr. on July 26, 1934: "The Management of General Motors holds
that there is no real conflict of interests between employers and
employees . . . Enlightened employers and enlightened employees
realize that they have a mutuality of interests such as to dictate the
wisdom of maintaining the highest degree of cooperation and har-
monious relations."

We have learned that these are merely words without substance.
Behind them is the reality of the class war, as exemplified in the
use of Pinkerton spies.

Similarly, when the sit-down strikers are in possession of the
Chrysler plant, and Mr. K. T. Keller, president of the Chrysler
Corporation, runs a full-page statement in the newspapers of the
country in which the following assertion is made: "This company
has conducted its industrial relations by and in accordance with
general acknowledged standards of fairness and equity" - we are
not surprised. We are now aware that sugarcoated sweet phrases
covering the bitter pill of class war have long been prescribed for
labor by capital. We leave to others the impossible task of reconcil-
ing the employment of Corporations Auxiliary spies with "stand-
ards of fairness and equity."

Occasionally by accident, we are given the unusual opportunity
to get behind the scenes as one of the employing class talks to
another. Then the difference between their silken phrases offered
for public consumption and their real attitude becomes clear. A
letter to Commissioner Sayre of the N.M.T.A. throws some light
on the "private thinking of these representatives of the powerful
metal trades manufacturers:

COLUMBUS BRANCH N.M.T.A.

July 7, 1936
Dear Homer:

. . . What do you think of the advisability of having an
operative whose business it would be to circulate generally and

"THE AMERICAN WAY" 145

keep us informed in regard to the activities of our friend the
enemy? . . .

H. L. ENNIS,
Secretary.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. What is your interpretation, Mr.
Sayre, of the phrase " the activities of our friend the enemy "
in this letter ?

MR. SAYRE. Well, I assume that Mr. Ennis refers to the ac-
tivities of the labor organizations which are attempting to
unionize the plants of the members of the association . . .

There we have it. The "enemy" is the labor organizations which
attempt to unionize. That the law gives these organizations that
right is for the N.M.T.A. beside the point.

That's frankness in private. Frankness in the open is indeed
rare; so we are deeply indebted to Mr. Hal Smith, counsel of the
Michigan Manufacturers' Association, who seems to express the
real point of view of the employers' group. "We know of no reason
why an employer in his plant should not have the right to employ a
detective. We see no reflection in any way in the employment of
detectives. 'Detective' and 'spy' are two names that are used in a
derogatory sense, but even a spy has a necessary place in time of war,
and it is not always that they are to be condemned."

This spokesman for the manufacturers leaves us no choice.
We realize, from his statement, that Mr. Lippmann and the
"soapbox preachers" are right employers believe in and wage
class war.

It is waged in a number of ways. Spying is only one weapon in
the class war. When that fails, when the unions continue to enroll
members in spite of the work of stool-pigeons, then open violence is
tried.

The Ford Motor Company recently provided a perfect illustra-
tion. There was, as always, the usual statement that the men may
join the union if they so desire:

146 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

Ford Says His Men
May "Join Anything' 9

They Are "Free," He Declares, but

Would Be "Foolish" to Sign

Up in Labor Union

DETROIT, April 13 (AP). Henry Ford declared today
that his employees were "free to join anything they want
to."

"They have always been free to join any church, any
lodge or any union they want to," he said in his first inter-
view after the Supreme Court decision upholding the Wag-
ner Labor Relations Act.

"Of course I think they are foolish if they join any union.
They will lose their liberty and all they will get is the right
of paying dues to somebody."

Mr. Ford here makes the flat assertion that his men "have al-
ways been free to join any union they want to." That statement is
simply not true. Ford employees have never been free to join a
union. The spy system in the Ford plant has long been notorious.
The Ford Company does not hire detective agencies it has its
own elaborate spy system under the direction of Mr. Harry H.
Bennett. (In this respect it is not alone many companies have
their own service.) The complete story of how Mr. Bennett's "serv-
ice men" operate has never been told, but enough is known to give
the lie to Henry Ford's statement. In December, 1934, before the
President's joint NRA-Labor Department inquiry, the testimony of
the attorney for the Mechanics' Educational Society of America
was taken. Here is The New Tork 'Times account of that testimony:
"Mr. Sugar said that the Ford Motor Company's 'service' men

"THE AMERICAN WAY" 147

were in the habit of looking through the employes* lunch boxes and
clothes in the lockers to find evidence of trade union literature.

"According to Mr. Sugar, motion pictures were made of a demon-
stration of automobile employes by the Ford Company, the films
were developed and examined and those found to have been Ford
workers were discharged. He promised to furnish the commission
with the names of those discharged."

How can Mr. Ford's and Mr. Sugar's statements be reconciled?
They cannot. One of them is trying to pull a fast one. Which one?
Up until May 26, 1937, either case might have been hard to prove
definitely. But on that day something happened which makes it
easy to judge.

The United Automobile Workers, having signed agreements with
both General Motors and the Chrysler Corporation, next turned
their attention to the Ford Motor Company. The union organizers
asked for and received permission from the Dearborn City Council
to distribute union leaflets to Ford workers on May 26. Now look at
the pictures (facing page 106) for what happened. (Also see
Frankensteen's own account, Appendix F.)

The captions are taken from 'The New York World-Telegram of
May 27. Evidently the editor of this paper did not believe Harry
Bennett's explanation of who did the slugging. Here is Bennett's
statement: "The affair was deliberately provoked by union officials
... I know definitely no Ford service men or plant police were in-
volved in any way in the fight. As a matter of fact, the service men
had issued instructions the union people could come and distribute
their pamphlets at the gate so long as they didn't interfere with
employes at work.

"The union men were beaten by regular Ford employes who were
on their way to work on the afternoon shift . . ."

The World-telegram caption writer was not taken in by Bennett's
statement. He didn't believe that the sluggers were "regular Ford
employes." He labels them what they were: "Ford's service men."
Look at the next picture and you can make your own guess. See the
handcuffs sticking out of the back pocket of the "worker" at the

148 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

left? Ever hear of an auto worker who needed handcuffs on his job?
The camera doesn't lie. The service men know that which ex-
plains why "the only victims of the fighting besides the unionists
were several of the photographers at the scene."

Violence. Union organizers suddenly beaten, kicked, and driven
away. That is the Ford Motor Company's law-breaking answer to
the U.A.W.A.'s attempt to unionize Ford workers. (IRONICAL NOTE:
On page 3 of The New Tork Times of May 27, 1937, just below the
picture showing the beating of Frankensteen, is a story whose head-
line reads: "Ford Assets Rose to $717,359,366 in 1936; Profit and
Loss Account Gained $ 19,6 8 9,021.")

Four days after the beating at Ford's, on May 30, in Chicago,
more violence. Another manifestation of the class war. Ten killed,
forty injured. Why? Because the Republic Steel Company, continu-
ing its traditional anti-union policy, chose not to sign an agreement
with the Steel Workers Organizing Committee of the C.I.O. A
strike resulted. On Memorial Day, about a thousand union sym-
pathizers, including many women and children, marched in peaceful
fashion toward the Republic Steel Company plant. They were un-
armed. They were several blocks from the gate of the plant, not even
on company grounds, when the Chicago police in their capacity as
"protectors of the company's property," fired, threw tear gas
bombs, then attacked with clubs. The death list is evidence of where
the responsibility for the slaughter lies. Not a single policeman was
shot.

Joseph Hickey, one of the wounded, tells what happened: "I
went to the meeting and they decided to make a picket line at the
front of the company. I went out with the rest of them and started
to walk over to the plant. I was about 100 yards behind the head of
the line when the uproar began. They were like trapped rats, panic-
stricken, terrified.

"I saw a woman fall as she was being clubbed by the policemen.
She was bleeding and looked like she was dying. I ran over to help
her and leaned down to pick her up, when the police hit me over the
head. I was out after that."

"THE AMERICAN WAY" 149

So horrible was the massacre that Paramount News, which filmed
the entire episode, found it advisable not to release the film for pub-
lic showings. The editor explained his action with these words:
"Our pictures depict a tense and nerve- wracking episode, which, in
certain sections of the country, might very well incite local riot and
perhaps riotous demonstrations in theaters, leading to further
casualties." This news editor was not faint-hearted. He knew his
picture. So brutal a slaughter of innocent men, women, and children
has seldom before occurred in the United States and the film
shows it clearly. Read, in Appendix G, the story the suppressed
film tells, written by a person who saw it.

Workers beaten, sent to the hospital, killed. This is the price of
the Republic Steel Company's refusal to sign a contract with the
union. The Carnegie-Illinois Steel Company has signed such a con-
tract and there is peace. The Jones and Laughlin Steel Corpora-
tion agreed to an election under the supervision of the N.L.R.B.;
the employees voted 17,412 for the C.I.O. union, 7,207 against;
Jones-Laughlin signed with the union and there is peace. Over
130 steel companies have signed contracts with the union and
there is peace. But Republic Steel refuses to sign and blood is
spilled.

The violence in this case was police violence. That often happens
as a result of industrialists' unwillingness to deal with unions. And
direct violence on the part of thugs hired by the employers also hap-
pens often. The horrible condition of affairs in Harlan County,
Kentucky, which has given that place the well-deserved name of
"Bloody Harlan," is known to all. Union meetings broken up by
riflemen; the murder of the son of a preacher who was a union or-
ganizer; the frequent beatings of union organizers; the dynamiting
of their cars and hotel rooms; the incarceration of union members in
an iron cage under a porch belonging to a coal firm; Harlan "jus-
tice" as portrayed by the judge who phoned a coal operator to ask
him how to dispose of the case of an arrested union organizer all
this and more has been disclosed by the La Follette committee.
But we have learned to expect anything to happen in the feudal

150 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

domain which is Bloody Harlan. It's almost as if Harlan County
were not a part of the United States. But it is and it has its
counterpart in other sections.

In 1936 the employees of the Pekin Distilling Company in Pekin,
Illinois, complained to the Labor Relations Board of espionage in
the plant. The Board's investigation was hamstrung at every turn
by court action on the part of the company. The men went out on
strike. The situation was tense. This was the moment chosen by the
Peoria Manufacturers' Association to deputize two gunmen with
criminal records, as strike-breakers. One of the thugs, Charles Sum-
mers, was questioned by the state superintendent of supervision of
parolees. Here is the testimony from the record:

Question: Were you ever requested, or was the suggestion
made to you, or were you ordered, to bump off, knock off, get
rid of, or put in the hospital, a fellow by the name of Kinsella
and a fellow by the name of Wilkie?

Answer: Yes. Not Wilkie, but Kinsella.

j^J. Charlie, will you give the details in reference to the best of
your recollection?

A. Well, in short, this Kinsella was causing a lot of trouble
for the Manufacturers' Association, and Mr. Roark [secretary
of the Association] thought it would be a good idea to put him in
the hospital for a while. He offered me $50, $25 of which he ad-
vanced. That's all there was to it . . .

The scene shifts from Illinois to Alabama. Mr. Elaine Owen is ac-
tive in union work there. Mr. Le May, assistant to the president of
the Tennessee Coal Iron and Railroad Company, doesn't like
unions. A Pinkerton solicitor tries to get some business from him.
Here is part of the letter the Pink wrote to Littlejohn of the Atlanta
office: "On my last two trips through Birmingham I have called
upon Mr. E. D. Le May, assistant to the President of the Tennessee
Coal and Iron Railroad . . . Mr. Le May confidently told me that
in the case of one very active Communist, Elaine Owens, they pri-

"THE AMERICAN WAY" 151

vately bad him taken on a week's 'fishing trip ' and worked on him sev-
eral times a day during that period, with the result that he left Bir-
mingham permanently."

Understand, these quotations are not from the diary of a master
racketeer. These orders to "put him in the hospital," and "work on
him," are issued by respectable employers. What it means to be a
union organizer in conflict with the T. C. & I., what it means to be
taken on a "fishing trip," has been described by Elaine Owen. Read
his account in Appendix H.

Sometimes getting rid of a troublesome union man is the com-
pany's idea, occasionally it springs from the spy. One N.M.T.A.
operative's report contains the significant words, "If Newbold and
one or two others could be eliminated, there would be no trouble."
A Pinkerton spy reports, "I believe if Shaw, Baum, and Scholle
were eliminated and the company talked to the people that main-
tain the picket line, an agreement could be reached." Remember,
again, these reports are sent, not to a Dutch Schultz or an Al
Capone, but to the heads of big manufacturing firms.

Such reports would not be sent if those industrialists were not in a
mood to receive them. Unfortunately they are. The beatings and
killings of active union men do not come as a surprise to them.
Where these industrialists do not themselves engineer the beatings,
they are at least aware that they are going to happen. Clifton Slus-
ser, vice-president and factory manager of Goodyear Tire and
Rubber Co., is on the stand, talking about the Gadsden, Alabama
plant of Goodyear:

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Do you recall that . . . you offered
to bet Mr. Pollard or Mr. Ricketts $100 that no union man
could organize the employees in the Gadsden plant of Good-
year?

MR. SLUSSER. I do not recall having made him an offer of a
bet, but I did make the statement that they could not go to
Gadsden, in my opinion, or go south of the Mason-Dixon line

152 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

and do and say these things that they were doing and saying in
Akron.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Do you recall stating words to this ef-
fect, that if an organizer did get off the train he would have to
come back on a stretcher ?

MR. SLUSSER. No; I told him he might get his head knocked
off. (Laughter)

Mr. Sherman H. Dalrymple, union organizer who attempted to
address a meeting of Goodyear employees in Gadsden, Alabama,
followed Mr. Slusser on the witness stand. His testimony that the
meeting was broken up by Goodyear's "flying squadron," and that
"his head was knocked off" to the extent that he was sent to the
hospital suffering from concussion of the brain, proved how great a
prophet Slusser was.

Mr. C. D. Lesley, a Goodyear employee for nine years, testified
that the "flying squadron" was given military training for a period
of one month. Read his testimony. The Goodyear Co. anticipated
that a strike might develop. A strike for this great company meant
a war, nothing less:

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. How often did the men go to the hall
for this training?

MR. LESLEY. Oh, 3 to 4 days a week, depending on just how
serious they thought this thing was that they expected to
develop.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. And how long did the training period
last?

MR. LESLEY. I think I am safe in saying close to a month.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. And each one of these sessions of
drill that you had, how long would they last on the average ?

MR. LESLEY. About two hours.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Did you receive any training as to the
use of any kind of weapons, gas weapons or others ?

"THE AMERICAN WAY" 153

MR. LESLEY. There were general instructions given to the en-
tire group in the use of a gas gun and the position of a man us-
ing this gun in the various formations.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. What sort of particular formations
did you practice that had to do with riots?

MR. LESLEY. Well, the one that they stuck to very close was
what is known as the wedge formation.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Describe that.

MR. LESLEY. Well, the formation is made by a group of men,
and when they are in their position the formation, or it appears
as though it is a wedge with a spearpoint and so forth, and the
leading man is supposed to be the man to lead into the group,
and the others are to protect him. The position of this gas man
is in the center, and it is for his protection presumably.

SENATOR LA FOLLETTE. Would you describe this as an offen-
sive or defensive formation ?

MR. LESLEY. Offensive; absolutely.

Keep that "offensive formation" in mind next time you read
about company guards killing picketers, "in defense of company
property."

Mr. Lesley was not telling a fairy tale. This military training of
Goodyear workers happened. It happened at the other rubber
plants too. One of the experts in charge, Joseph J. Johnston, Colonel
of Cavalry of the Ohio National Guard Reserve, had done a good
job. He felt that in applying for a similar position with other firms
he could give the Akron rubber companies as reference. He writes to
Mr. C. E. Mitchell, Industrial Relations Department, General
Motors Corporation, Detroit, Michigan:

My Dear Sir: During the threatened labor trouble in the
rubber industry in Akron, I was employed by the Akron rubber
companies to organize and train the plant protection units and

154 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

take general charge of plant defense. By getting to work well in
advance of the threatened trouble, I believe we were able to
prevent the strike. / had fully equipped and trained 1500 men.
I am writing to you to inquire if you would be in need of
service along this line. I can refer you to Mr. Herbert Cook in
charge of factory safety and defense, the B. F. Goodrich
Company, Akron, and Mr. William Reese of the same capacity
at the Firestone Rubber Company, Akron, or any of the offi-
cials of these companies that you would care to write to. I
might also refer you to Sheriff James Flower of Summit
County, Akron, whose force I assisted in training.

Now we don't know whether or not Colonel Johnston got the job
with General Motors. But we do know that if he did get it, and if he
was sent to Flint to train Chevrolet or Buick workers, he found all
the equipment he needed waiting for him. P. H. Kilean, Lake Erie
Chemical Company agent, wrote to Mr. Ailes on September 30,
1933:

Ship to James V. Mills, chief of police, city of Flint, Michi-
gan the following: Ten no. 16 gun clubs and ten dozen (120) no.
i6-A shells for same . . . Do not bill the city of Flint for this
material. Instead send the bill to the Manufacturers Associa-
tion of Flint, 901 Industrial Bank Building. Mail it for the
attention of James Farber, manager. Mr. Farber is the one who
telephoned me this order this morning.

For your own information only, / have reason to believe this
material is for tbe Chevrolet Motor Company; but they do not
want it advertised or generally known that they are the
buyers.

Several months later, Mr. Kilean comes through again with an
order, this time for Buick. Same secrecy to be observed:

Dear Mr. Ailes: For your records, please be advised that I
sold to the Buick Motor Company, Flint, Michigan, two long

"THE AMERICAN WAY" 155

range gas guns, single action, of the hammer-hinged type, at
$40 each, and 1 2 long range tear gas charges for these guns, at
$90 a dozen, or a total of $170.

The Buick wanted this material delivered personally to their
plant protection department, to circumvent the receiving de-
partment, so I took it up myself Wednesday.

Now all this is particularly interesting in the light of a request for
tear gas made to Lake Erie by the other side in the class war. What
happens if a union wants to arm itself in a manner similar to that of
Chevrolet, Buick, and other industrial firms? Will the Lake Erie,
like the armament industry, sell to both sides? It will not. The class
war is evidently different from ordinary wars. Witness this letter
dated May 13, 1936, from Mr. Ailes to the International Brother-
hood, Chauffeurs and Helpers of Bridgeport, Connecticut:

Gentlemen: We are restricting tbe sale of our tear gas weapons
to law-enforcement agencies^ and therefore are not in a position
to quote, in answer to your letter of May loth. We do not sell
through dealers . . .

THE LAKE ERIE CHEMICAL COMPANY
A. S. Ailes, Vice President

That Mr. Ailes was not telling the truth in the italicized sentence
above, you have already seen from the sale to Chevrolet and Buick.
On the stand, he testified that thirty to thirty-five percent of Lake
Erie's sales went to individuals or corporations; Mr. Engelhart, sales
manager of the Manville Manufacturing Co., testified that fifty
percent of his company's sales were industrial.

The map below, drawn by the La Follette committee, shows that
preparing for violent industrial war is not restricted to a few plants
it seems to be part of the pattern of American industry, like
spying.

Industrialists love to make speeches about "The American
Way." Billboards all over our country are plastered with those

i 5 6

THE LABOR SPY RACKET

SALE OF TEAR 8 SICKENING GAS a EQUIPMENT

familiar words "The American Way." In Europe there is also a
class war. Yet a map like the one above, before the advent of the
Nazis, could not have been understood by a European. And labor
spying by hired detective agencies is also unknown there. It is com-
pletely an American phenomenon. Is this what our industrialists
mean by "The American Way"?

VIII. What Is To Be Done?

THE MAJOR PURPOSE of industrial espionage is union-pre-
vention and union-smashing. This is a violation of the laws of our
country. Spying defeats the policy of Congress, declared in the Wag-
ner Act, that labor should have the right to organize.

What is to be done?

Employers who want to obey the law will know what to do.
They must give up the practice of hiring spy agencies. This does
not mean that they are to replace hired spies with their own plant
spies. No. They must not interfere in any way with the efforts of
their employees to organize, to join unions.

Employees should do immediately what the law gives them a
right to do organize. They should join trade unions. It is all to
the good that the Wagner Act is on the statute books; that Wis-
consin and Indiana have laws requiring the registration of opera-
tives. Workers should demand the enforcement of these laws and
the passage of other laws against the use of spy agencies. Yet that
is not enough. Workers must not rely on legislation alone to make
it impossible for law-breaking employers to deprive them of their
rights. The way to win for all time the right to join trade unions
is to exercise that right, now. Legislation helps, but without the
organized might of the united workers behind them, law makers
can do very little. The only way for workers to advance their
own interests is by building up and strengthening their own or-
ganization the trade union.

But how is that possible so long as employers continue to plant
spies in unions to disrupt worker organization? It is possible. It can
be done. Unions can be organized in spite of crooked spy activities.
They have been. They will be.

157

158 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

However, the job of union-building is not easy. It must be ap-
proached seriously and sensibly, with determination to succeed.
If workers tackle the job in that spirit, the outlook will not be dis-
couraging. Unions have discovered and exposed spies before. They
can do it again.

^he essential first step is for every worker to make it Ms task to
build the union^ just as the spy makes it his task to tear it down.
This means that every union member must be an active union
member, interested in what is going on, and doing his share of
the work. Where there is trade union democracy, where all mem-
bers are alive to what is happening, where they analyze the prob-
lems, discuss the solutions, and participate in the decisions, there
the spy cannot so easily do his deadly work. Where there is trade
union bureaucracy, where union affairs are given over to a handful
of officers, where it is left to a small group to run the show, there
the spy's job of ruining the show is that much simpler.

Every union member must adopt the spy's tactic of keeping his
eyes and ears open. He must try to understand what is happening
in his organization and be on the alert for sabotage. Are committee
members doing the work they are supposed to do? Was that Red-
baiting speech a cover for inactivity or treachery on the part of
the member who delivered it? The member who always goes in
for hair-splitting is he really honest, or is he a wrecker? These are
only a few of the things to be observed. But they must be observed
calmly and carefully. The fact that stool-pigeons are planted in
trade unions is no reason for undue suspicion, or for going off half-
cocked on a wild spy-hunt. Union members must be absolutely cer-
tain of their case before they accuse a fellow member of being a spy.

Just as it is important for every union member to keep his eyes
and ears open, so it is important for him to keep his mouth shut.
He must not talk too much particularly to the fellow who asks
too much. The danger of "shooting off your mouth" is real. Witness
the case of Charles Jennings, a union organizer who should have
known better. A spy for the N.M.T.A. writes to Mr. Stringham:
" In a little talk with Mr. Earl I told him I had made a close contact

WHAT IS TO BE DONE? 159

with one Charles Jennings, of Jersey City. Jennings is the State or
general organizer for the A. F. of L. He tells me quite freely of bis
movements and plans regarding organization work. Of course he does
not suspect my motives."

Obviously such behavior on the part of a union man is downright
stupidity. Spies can be licked but an important first requirement
is the exercise of good common sense by union members.

Despite the fact that the Wagner Act has outlawed the employ-
ment of undercover operatives to forestall unionization, despite
the fact that the Supreme Court has upheld that Act, some em-
ployers will continue to use spies. They will continue to use them
because they believe that spies are necessary in the conduct of
business today. The fact that this is not true doesn't help the situa-
tion any. So long as employers believe it is true, spies will be hired.
When Mr. O. P. Briggs was Commissioner of the National Found-
ers' Association, he said that the spy system was absolutely essen-
tial: "I regard this as one of the very best investments the Associa-
tion makes. Without it, I would hardly know how to direct the
work of the Association. It seems to be an indispensable requisite
to good results."

When Mr. Weckler was on the stand, he indicated that he too
thought there was some excuse for the spy system. In answer to a
question from Senator Thomas, he said, "I think it is very essential
that an employer know the situations which surround his business.
This is one method of getting information."

Over twenty years ago, General Atterbury of the Pennsylvania
Railroad, testifying before the Industrial Relations Commission,
put the matter bluntly: "We have a spy system. There will always
be one until a better method of handling labor relations is de-
veloped."

Employers should realize that "a better method of handling labor
relations" has been developed. It is for them to grant to labor its
fundamental right to organize and to bargain collectively through
representatives of its own choosing. That is the "better method"
which makes the spy system unnecessary.

160 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

Fair-minded employers will realize that in granting that right to
labor, they are granting only what they have always enjoyed them-
selves. In the words of the Supreme Court, "Employes have as
clear a right to organize and select their representatives for lawful
purposes as the respondent [employer] has to organize its business
and select its own officers and agents."

This means, of course, that industry must be prepared to give
up its outworn slogan that has caused so much trouble, "Nobody is
going to tell me how to run my business." That must be given up
because it no longer holds. In the twentieth century it is not accu-
rate to speak of a business as "my business." Today, business
is the affair of both the employer and the employee. Fixing the
conditions of work, the hours and the wages, is the business of both
the boss and the worker. It is not possible, today, to permit a
single employer, or a group of employers, to determine the condi-
tions of labor; labor's representatives must have an equal voice in the
determination of those conditions. This participation by those who
work in the decisions affecting their livelihood is nothing more or
less than democracy in industry. It is as important as democracy
in politics if not more so.

Labor's voice, when it is heard, must not be that of individuals
shouting each other down. It must be a collective voice. Only
through genuine collective bargaining can labor attain the equality
with capital that is its right. The Wagner Act states specifically
that: "Representatives designated or selected for the purposes of
collective bargaining by the majority of the employees in a unit
appropriate for such purposes, shall be the exclusive representatives
of all the employees in such unit for the purposes of collective bar-
gaining in respect to rates of pay, wages, hours of employment, or
other conditions of employment."

This does not mean that individual employees or groups may not
present their grievances to the employer. Not at all. It does mean,
however, that they are prevented from making separate agree-
ments with the employer in regard to hours, wages, and working
conditions, which are the sole function of the bargaining agency.

WHAT IS TO BE DONE? 161

This, again, is the democratic method. Those anti-union em-
ployers who have suddenly become concerned with the rights of
the minority (strangely enough, they never gave a thought to
this before the passage of the Wagner Act) are guilty of distortion
of the facts. Industry is run on the principle of majority rule; so is
politics. Many millions of Americans voted for Landon in the last
election; many more millions voted for Roosevelt. Roosevelt is the
president not alone of those people who voted for him, but of all
the people.

To argue against collective bargaining on the further ground
that it is not necessary, because employers have always been willing
to listen to the grievances of their employees, is contrary to the
spirit of democracy. The Commission on Industrial Relations
pointed this out in a striking passage: "A great deal of testimony
has been introduced to show that the employers who refuse to deal
collectively with their workmen do in fact grant audiences at which
the grievances of their workmen may be presented. One is repelled
rather than impressed by the insistence with which this idea has
been presented. Every tyrant in history has on stated days granted
audiences to which his faithful subjects might bring their com-
plaints against his officers and agents. At these audiences, in theory
at least, even the poorest widow might be heard by her sovereign
in her search for justice. That justice was never secured under such
conditions, except at the whim of the tyrant is sure. It is equally
sure that in industry justice can never be attained by such a
method."

Some die-hard employers who see that collective bargaining has
come to stay have resorted to two tricks to retain their dictatorial
power: the first is to grant collective bargaining to a company
union; the second is to build up the myth that all union leaders are
crooks or Reds. Intelligent workers will not be fooled by either
manoeuvre.

The company union is a fake. It is a dummy organization which
enables the employer to control both sides of the table when there
is any attempt at collective bargaining. Workers* representatives in

i62 THE LABOR SPY RACKET

a company union cannot be free and fearless, because they are paid
their wages by the man with whom they are negotiating. The com-
pany union, by its nature, prevents the workers in one plant from
organizing with workers in other plants. Senator Robinson on
April 7, 1937, hit the nail on the head in a speech delivered on the
floor of the Senate: "Whenever an organization is fostered and
promoted and financed by the company itself for the purpose of
controlling the laborers and preventing them from exercising the
rights which sound public policy guarantees to them it constitutes
a 'company union/ Of course, such union is not always heralded
as a scheme or enterprise to interfere with the rights of laborers,
but, as a matter of fact, the object is to control the workers them-
selves, particularly in their exercise of the right of collective
bargaining."

Workers must steer clear of company unions, employees* as-
sociations, and the like. They must profit from the example of the
employers organize in groups of their own for their own interests.

They must not let themselves be fooled by the lies about trade
unions, spread by the splitters of the ranks of labor. The leaders
of the trade unions are not crooks in most unions there is a very
strict periodic accounting of all union funds. The instances of union
officers running off with the money are few and often the crook
is a spy sent in to rob the treasury. Racketeering by union leaders
does occur, but it is highly exaggerated. There is less racketeering
by union leaders than by business leaders. Trade union dues are
low when thought of in terms of the benefits received. Company
union dues, where they exist at all, are lower they should be
because the benefits go to the employer, not to the worker. The
leaders and members of trade unions are not "Reds"; they are
Democrats, Republicans, Socialists, Communists, Catholics, Jews,
Protestants, just as in the business world.

What is to be done ?

How can the despicable spy system be destroyed? Here is the
answer, given by John L. Lewis, after the U.A.W.A. had signed a
contract with General Motors: "There will now be no need for

WHAT IS TO BE DONE? 163

labor spies, for obviously everybody will know who the union
members are. They have no secrets and the union will be willing to
advise General Motors of any action taken at meetings. The same
situation will now prevail as obtains in the mining industry, where
there are no secrets and where detective agencies are starving to
death. This detective thing is a ghastly chapter in the history of
General Motors and the whole industry."

Many years ago, Henry Demarest Lloyd, a great American,
made a profound observation about the ghastly business of indus-
trial espionage. He said, "A spy at one end of an institution proves
that there is a tyrant at the other."

In the United States of America there is no room for tyrants. To
get rid of the tyranny in American industry is the job of the workers
of America. There is only one way to do it

ORGANIZE!

APPENDIX

LIST OF DETECTIVE AGENCIES

AS OF APRIL 1936

[NOTE. This list is based on that
contained in Cabot Fund Report, as of
1920; agencies added are preceded by an
asterisk (*).]

Abbott's Inc., Chicago.

*Acme Detective Agency, San Francisco,
Calif.

*Active Industrial Service, New York
City.

Addis Detective Agency, Philadelphia.

A. D. T. Protective Service, Cincinnati.

*Aetna Judicial Service, New York.

*A. A. Ahner Detective Agency, St. Louis,
Mo. (See Industrial Investigators and
Engineers, Inc.)

Alexander & Leweck, Milwaukee.

*American Confidential Bureau (Charles
W. Hansen), New York City, 605 Fifth
Avenue.

American Detective Service Co., Chicago.

*American Loyalty League, San Fran-
cisco, Calif.

*American Plan, George W. Frothingham,
president, and John A. Lucett, secre-
tary, Cleveland, Ohio.

*American Vigilant Intelligence Federa-
tion, H. A. Jung, Chicago.

Armsworth & Cavett Agency, Pittsburgh.

Ascher Detective Agency, New York City.

*Aster Detective Service (William M.
Tivoli), New York City.

*Atlas Detective Bureau, Philadelphia,
Pa.

Baldwin-Felts Agency, Roanoke, Va.;
Bluefields, W. Va.

*Bargron Detective Agency, Rockford,
111.

*Barthell Detective Agency, Nashville,
Tenn.

*Bell Detective Service, Philadelphia, Pa.

Bergoff Bros., New York City. (Bergoff
Industrial Service, Inc., 551 Fifth Ave-
nue, New York.)

*Berkshire Detective Agency, Brooklyn,
N. Y. (Joe Lawrence, alias Joseph La
Bataglia).

*Bernhard Haas, New York City.

B & M Secret Service Bureau, Detroit.

*Bodeker National Detective Agency,
Birmingham, Ala., and in Chattanooga.

*H. S. Boulin, New York City.

*Bowers Detective Service, Philadelphia,
Pa.

*R. W. Bridgman Detective Bureau. (See
Morse Detective and Patrol Service.)

*S. S. Brody, Buffalo, N. Y.

P. J. Burke National Detective Agency,
Boston.

Burr-Herr Agency, Chicago.

Burton Detective Agency, Cleveland.

Walter J. Burns, Detroit, Mich.

William J. Burns, International Detective
Agency, Inc., New York City. Branch
offices in other cities. Representing
American Bankers' Association. Crim-
inal, general, industrial, and commercial
detective work. Branch offices at At-
lanta, Baltimore, Birmingham, Boston,
Brussels, Bridgeport, Buffalo, Chicago,
Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver,

1 66

APPENDIX

Des Moines, Detroit, El Paso, Houston,
Jacksonville, Kansas City, London, Los
Angeles, Memphis, Miami, Minne-
apolis, Montreal, New Orleans, New
York, Oklahoma City, Paris, Phila-
delphia, Pittsburgh, Portland, Provi-
dence, Richmond, Salt Lake City, San
Francisco, Seattle, Spokane, St. Louis,
St. Paul, Toronto, Vancouver, Wash-
ington, D. C., Wilkes-Barre.

Butler System of Industrial Surveys,
New York.

H. J. Carling, St. Paul.

*Central Industrial Service (see R. A. and
I. Co.), Pittsburgh, Pa.

*Clarke's Detective Agency, Buffalo,
N. Y.

R. J. Coach Co., Cleveland.

*Harry J. Connors (aided by James
Walsh), New York.

*Contra Costa County Industrial Associa-
tion, Richmond, Calif.

Thomas J. Corbally Detective Agency,
Inc., Newark, N. J.

Corporations Auxiliary Co., New York
City, incorporated in Ohio, uses name
"International Auxiliary Co." in New
York State. Employment service under
name of "Eastern Contracting & Engi-
neering Co." at same address. Other
offices at Chicago, Cleveland, St. Louis,
Buffalo, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, Cin-
cinnati, and Detroit.

Corporations Service Bureau, Detroit.

*Corporations Service Investigation Cor-
poration, Youngstown, Ohio. (See Na-
tional Corporations Service, Inc.)

*D. F. Costello Bureau, San Francisco,
Calif.

Cal Crim Agency, Cincinnati.

*Cresswell Agency, Akron Savings &
Loan Building, Akron, Ohio.

*H. C. Gumming Detective Agency,
Reading, Pa.

*Russell Davis, San Francisco, Calif.

*W. C. Dannenberg, in West Monroe
Street, Chicago.

*Dawn Patrol, Detroit, Mich.

*Dougherty's Detective Bureau, New
York City.

*W. Howard Downey and Associates,
New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Toronto.

*Drummond Detective Agency, 521
Fifth Avenue, New York.

Dunn's National Detective Agency, De-
troit.

*Arthur F. Eagan, New York City.

*Eagle and Industrial Associates, New
York City. (.SVfEagleDetectiveAgency;
Sherwood Detective Bureau.)

Eagle Detective Agency, New York City.
(See Sherwood Detective Bureau;
Eagle Industrial Associates.)

*Eastern Engineering Co.

Employer's Detective Service, St. Paul.

Farley Detective and Strikebreaking
Agency, Chicago, 111., Milwaukee.
Principal, Jim Farley, dean of Ameri-
can strikebreakers.

*Farrah Secret Service, Detroit, Mich.

John E. Ferris Intelligence Service, Mil-
waukee.

*Fred Fields Detective Agency, Cleve-
land.

*William J. Flynn Agency, New York
City, 1457 Broadway.

*Forbes International Detective Agency,
Philadelphia, Pa.

Robert J. Foster Service, New York City,

*Franklin & Stoner, New York City,
Philadelphia.

Gale National Detective Agency, St
Paul.

*Gignat Secret Service, Private Detective
Agency, San Francisco, Calif.

Gordon & Allen, St. Paul.

F. P. Gordon Detective Bureau, Mil-
waukee.

Goldsmith Agency, Cleveland.

*Gorman Detective Agency, Buffalo
N. Y.

Gorton National Detective Agency, Chi
cago.

Greensburg Detective Agency, Greens-
burg, Pa.

Matthew Griffin Co., Philadelphia.

Hallerin Agency, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Hamilton Detective Agency, Pittsburgh.

Hannons Detective Agency, Minneapolis.

The Edward J. Hargrave Secret Service,
Chicago.

Harding Detective Agency, Chicago, 111.

Harris Detective Agency, Pittsburgh.

*Hartford Private Detective Bureau. (See
Morse Detective and Patrol Service.)

*Edward Z. Holmes Detective Bureau,
New York City.

Hoy Detective Bureau, Minneapolis.

*Otis Hulbert, Cleveland, Ohio. (See Na-
tional Corporation Service, Inc.)

*Industrial Council of Washington, Seat-
tle, Wash.

Industrial Defense Detective Agency,
Boston.

*Industrial Investigators and Engineers.
(See A. A. Ahner Detective Agency.)

Industrial Relations Service, Ltd., New
York City.

international Auxiliary Co., Kenmore,
N. Y., Buffalo, N. Y., Hartford, Conn.

Independent Operation Union, Pitts-
burgh, Pa.

*Intercity Protective Agency, New York
City.

International Detective Agency, Phila-
delphia, Pa.

International Detective Service, Minne-
apolis.

international Labor Bureau. (See R. A.
and I. Co.)

*International Library Service. (See R. A.
and I. Co.)

The International Secret Service Co.,
Chicago.

Interstate Detective Agency, Chicago.

Jerome Agency, Pittsburgh (headquarters
in San Francisco).

Frederick W. Job, expert in labor matters,
Marquette Building, Chicago.

APPENDIX 167

*Col. Joseph Johnston (Lake Erie Chemi-
cal Co.), Cleveland.

J. Oswald Jones, detective agency, St.
Paul.

*A. J. Kane Detective Agency, San Fran-
cisco, Calif.

The Kane Service, Chicago.

Kelly-Gleason Detective Agency, Minne-
apolis (branch office in Des Moines).

Capt. Bernard Kelcher, New York City.

*Kemp Agency, Nason & Roolett, Inc.,
San Francisco, Calif.

*Keystone Operation Union, Pittsburgh,
Pa.

*Keystone State Detective Agency, Phil-
adelphia, Pa.

*Kurty Detective Agency, Wilkes-Barre,
Pa.

*Robert Lawrence Detective Agency,
Brooklyn, N. Y.

Edmund Leigh, New York City. (See Na-
tional Intelligence Plant Protection
Service.)

Madison Detective Bureau, New York
City.

*Managers Operation Union, Pittsburgh,
Pa.

*Manufacturers' and Merchants' Inspec-
tion Bureau. (See Howard W. Russell,
Inc.)

Manufacturers' Auxiliary Co., Detroit.

Manufacturers' Efficiency Service, De-
troit.

Manufacturers' Service, Cleveland. (See
H. Clay Folger, Schofield Bldg., Cleve-
land.)

*Ignatius McCarty, San Francisco, Calif.

*McDuff National Detective Agency,
Birmingham, Ala.

*G. T. McNulty, Inc., Philadelphia, Pa.

Merchants' Industrial Association, New
York City.

Merchants' National Detective Bureau,
St. Paul.

*Merchants' Secret Service Corporation,
Fort Wayne, Ind.

i68

APPENDIX

*Metlers Mutual Agency, Sikeston, Mo.

Metropolitan Agency, Cleveland and De-
troit.

Jake Mints Agency, Cleveland.

The Mooney-Boland-Southerland Corpo-
ration, Chicago, Detroit, New York
City. (See Fred C. Mumford Agency.)

Tommy Moran, Pittsburgh.

*More Detective and Patrol Service, Wil-
son, Conn.

*Fred C. Mumford Agency (successor to
Mooney & Boland), New York City.

The Murphy-McDonnel Secret Service
Co., Detroit.

The Murphy Secret Service, Detroit.

McGovern Detective Service, Pittsburgh
(special representatives in 20 cities).

McGrath Secret Service Co., 8820 Car-
negie Ave., Cleveland.

McGuire & White Agency, Chicago.

McLellan's Detective Bureau, New York
City.

Morgan Detective Agency, Boston.

National Mutual Service.

National Manufacturers' Syndicate.

These last two names are used by the
personnel and training department of
the Sherman Service, Inc. National
Manufacturers' Syndicate has its head
office in Chicago and recruiting offices
at New York City and Boston. Other
offices are in Philadelphia, Cleveland,
St. Louis, and Toronto.

*National Corporation Service, Inc. (E.
E. MacGuffin), Youngstown, Ohio.

*National Corporation Service of La.,
New Orleans.

*National Detective Agency, Newark,
N.J.

National Detective Agency, Detroit.

*National Detective Service, Philadel-
phia, Pa.

National Erectors' Association, Chicago.

National Founders' Association, Chicago.

National Metal Trades Association, Chi-
cago.

*New Jersey Engineering Corporation.

North American National Detective Bu-
reau, East Minneapolis.

North Western Detective Agency, New
York City.

Northern Information Bureau, Minne-
apolis.

O'Brien & Sons Detective Agency, Chi-
cago.

Captain O'Brien's Detective Agency,
New York City.

J. F. O'Brien Detective Agency, Newark,
N.J.

Rouse O'Brien, Cincinnati, Ohio.

*O'Connell Detective Agency, 342 Madi-
son Avenue, New York.

*Val O'Farrell Detective Agency (A. B.
Ownes), New York City.

O'Neil Secret Service, Detroit.

*Val O'Toole's Detective Agency, New
York City. (See Pioneer Industrial
Service.)

*Pattee Service, St. Louis.

*Forest C. Pendleton, Inc. (See R. A. & I.
Co.)

*Pennsylvania Industrial Service. (See R.
A. & I. Co.)

Perkins Union Detective Agency, Pitts-
burgh.

*Peterson Detective Agency, Pittsburgh.

Pinkerton's National Detective Agency.
Offices: New York, Boston, Philadel-
phia, Los Angeles, Hartford, Syracuse,
Baltimore, Atlanta, Buffalo, Montreal,
Dallas, Cleveland, Toronto, Pittsburgh,
Chicago, Detroit, Cincinnati, Minne-
apolis, Denver, St. Paul, St. Louis,
New Orleans, Richmond, Kansas City,
Houston, Providence, San Francisco,
Salt Lake City, Spokane, Seattle, Port-
land, Ore., Indianapolis, Omaha, Mil-
waukee, Scranton.

*Pioneer Industrial Service, New York
City.

Pioneer International Detective Bureau,
Minneapolis.

Production Service Co., Cincinnati.

APPENDIX

169

Railway and Industrial Protective Asso-
ciation, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

Railway Audit & Inspection Co., Phila-
delphia and Pittsburgh.
*Pennsylvania Industrial Service.
*Central Industrial Service.
""International Library Service.
*Forest C. Pendleton, Inc.
*International Labor Bureau.

Ray Detective Agency & Merchants'
Secret Service, Boston.

Edwin L. Reed & Co., Chicago.

Rhodes Secret Service Bureau, Cleveland.

Dominick G. Riley Detective Bureau,
Inc., New York City.

Teddy Roberts, Pittsburgh and West
Virginia.

Howard W. Russell, Inc., or Manufactur-
ers' and Merchants' Inspection Bureau,
Milwaukee; industrial department, es-
pionage work in factories.

*Saile-Pierson Detective Agency, Phil-
adelphia.

*Stahl Secret Service, Philadelphia, Pa.

Schindler, Inc., New York City. Handles
Sherman's civil and criminal work.

Scott Secret Service, Philadelphia (now
Frank L. Scott Detective Agency,
Boston).

G. A. Seagrove Co., Chicago.

Shea and Farley Detective Bureau, New
York City.

Sherman Service, Inc.

Offices (headquarters now at New
York City): Boston, St. Louis, Phil-
adelphia, Cleveland, Providence, New
York, Chicago, New Haven, Detroit.

Shippy-Hunt International Detective
Agency, Chicago.

Soule Secret Service, Chicago.

Standard Protection Co., Cleveland.

Standard Secret Service Agency, Detroit.

Standard Service Co., Cleveland.

Stanley Detective Agency, Chicago.

*Sterling Secret Service, Detroit, Mich.

*Carl Swinburne Agency, St. Louis.

Tate's Detective Bureau, Philadelphia.

*Sherwood Detective Bureau. (See Eagle

Industrial Associates.)
*Smith's Detective Agency, Dallas, Tex.
*Standard Industrial Service, New York,

N. Y.
Thiel Detective Service Co., New York

City; central office now in Chicago, St.

Louis, Mo., St. Paul, other branch

offices.

Trotter Detective Bureau, Minneapolis.
*Elsie M. Tunison, Detroit, Mich.
*T. R. Turner, New York.
William J. Turner Detective Agency,

Chicago.
*United Detective Bureau, New York

City.

*United Detective Service, San Fran-
cisco, Calif.

United Service Co., Cleveland.
Waddell-Mahon Agency, New York City.
Washington Detective Agency, New

York City.
Washington Service Bureau, New York

City (Jack Cohen, A. D. Cohen).
*Watkins Jacobs Detective Agency,

Youngstown, Ohio.
*Watts & Whelan, Detroit, Mich.
Western Construction Co., Chicago.
*C. R. Williams Investigating Bureau,

New York City.
Williams Agency, Boston.
Wilson's Detective Agency, Milwaukee.
Daniel Wolff Agency, New York City.
*Wood Service System, 1228 Ninety-first

Street, New York City.
Young's Detective Agency, New York

City.

1 Prelim., p. 72 ff.

B.

Type of spy report received by Mr.

Weckler of the Chrysler Corp.

SPECIAL REPORT COVERING MEETING OF
DELEGATES OF THE UNITED AUTOMO-
BILE WORKERS (A. F. OF L.) AND AF-
FILIATED UNIONS, HELD TUESDAY,
JULY yTH, 1936
A special meeting of local officers of the

170

APPENDIX

United Automobile Workers and dele-
gates and officers of the Automotive In-
dustrial Workers Association, Mechanics
Educational Society and Associated Au-
tomobile Workers of America, was held
Tuesday evening, July yth, at A.I.W.A.
headquarters, 8944 Jos Campau Avenue,
with an attendance of about 60 officers
and delegates.

Richard Frankensteen acted as chair-
man. Arthur Greer served as secretary.

The first question brought before the
meeting was in connection with straight-
ening out the list of delegates that were
selected to serve on the District Organiz-
ing Committee at a previous meeting,
held Tuesday evening, June 3oth. At that
meeting there was much confusion as to
who was appointed to the committee and
in some cases delegates were -appointed to
the committee and did not know it while
in other cases certain delegates believed
they were on the committee but found out
later on that they were mistaken.

This evening a complete list of the tem-
porary Organizing Committee of 21 was
made known as follows:

George Wilson, Dodge

"Red" Miller, Mixed Local #155 (for-
merly M. E. S.)

Cliff Zimmerman, Dodge

Arthur Greer, Hudson Motor

Gould, Murray Body

R. Thomas, Chrysler (Kercheval)

Reuther, Terns ted ts

Kindle, Kelsey Wheel

McKie, Ford Motor

Willis, Motor Products

Ayers, Graham-Paige

Andrews, Dodge

Loyd Jones, Motor Products

Maurice Fields, Dodge

J. Kennedy, Chrysler

Barber, Fisher Body Local #157 (for-
merly M. E. S.)

Berry, Zenith Carburetor

Coleman, Herron-Zimmer Molding Co.

A letter prepared by Seymour, an offi-
cer of the transmission department dis-
trict local (Dodge), was read, in which
Seymour suggested that members of or-
ganized labor should confine their pur-
chases as much as possible to merchandise
bearing the union label. He explained in
his letter that many members of organ-
ized labor overlook entirely the union
label program and soon fall into the habit
of buying merchandise that is made
under "unfair open shop" conditions.

The only comment made about this let-
ter was when the delegates agreed to carry
out this recommendation as closely as
possible.

Secretary Arthur Greer read some pre-
pared statements issued at the time
Mayor Tenerowicz of Hamtramck was a
candidate for election this year. Accord-
ing to the statement read by Greer,
Mayor Tenerowicz in his campaign for the
office of Mayor, stated that if elected to
office, he would see that the Hamtramck
Police Department would not interfere
with peaceful picketing or escort "strike
breakers" to a plant and in fact would
keep the Police Department out of the
strike as long as the strikers did not resort
to destruction of private property. Also
in this statement, that Greer read, Mayor
Tenerowicz stated that he would also stop
the Police Department from interfering
with the distribution of handbills around
the plants.

Following the reading of this letter,
Frankensteen remarked that the Ham-
tramck Police are interfering to some ex-
tent with the distribution of handbills.
During the discussion that followed, it
was agreed to send a typewritten copy of
these statements, made during the election
campaign this year, to Mayor Tenerowicz
and another copy to the Hamtramck Po-
lice Department. Also copies will be
mimeographed later on and sent out to all
members of the United Automobile Work-

APPENDIX

171

ers, especially members of local unions in
Hamtramck. . . .

Frankensteen said during the past week
he has talked upon several occasions to
small groups of Fisher Body employees of
the Piquette Avenue plant, having met
them nearby in beer gardens and res-
taurants, and his contacts indicate that
these men are deeply interested in organ-
ization and all that is necessary to bring
them into the folds of organized labor is
some constructive work on the part of the
organizers. Frankensteen said he intends
to keep in touch with the Fisher Body em-
ployees and will assist the organizers in
preparing meetings and will also speak at
these gatherings.

Frankensteen announced that a series
of four mass meetings will be held in dif-
ferent sections of the city, commencing on
Thursday evening of this week. He said on
Thursday, July 9th, the first of these mass
meetings will be held at Chandler Park
and included among the speakers will be
Adolph Germer, the personal representa-
tive of John L. Lewis and his Committee
for Industrial Organization. He explained
this mass meeting is being held especially
for employees of Chrysler, Hudson Motor,
Zenith Carburetor, Motor Products,
Briggs, Budd Wheel, Bower Roller Bear-
ing, Freuhauf Trailer, Federal Mogul,
Bohn Aluminum, Acme Die Cast and
Detroit Vapor Stover. He said the mass
meeting next week will probably be held
in Hamtramck and efforts will be made to
secure the Rosinski Stadium, at the corner
of Jos. Campau Avenue and Dan Street.
He explained that it is not certain if this
stadium can be rented and the exact date
of the meeting next week has not been
decided upon. He said this, however, will
be announced later this week over the
radio broadcasts on Friday, and Saturday
on Station WMBC. In this connection,
Frankensteen explained that the United
Automobile Workers have secured time

on Station WMBC on Friday evenings
from 10:15 P. M. to 10:30 P. M. and on
Saturday evenings from 7:15 p. M. to
7:30 P. M. He said both of the programs
this week will be in English, but arrange-
ments are being made to broadcast a
Polish program on either Friday or Satur-
day of next week and hopes to have Leo
Kryzki, speak. Kryzki is Vice-President
of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers,
one of the International Unions that com-
poses the Committee for Industrial
Organization.

Frankensteen announced that Inter-
national President Homer Martin of the
United Automobile Workers visited
Washington last week and spent consider-
able time with John L. Lewis and com-
pleted arrangements for the International
Union of the United Automobile Workers
to join with the Lewis Committee for In-
dustrial Organization. He said the United
Rubber Workers has also joined the Com-
mittee for Industrial Organization and
this makes 12 International Unions that
are represented on the committee.

Frankensteen said Martin returned to
Detroit yesterday but left for Pittsburgh
today where he will meet with the organ-
izers in the steel drive and other members
of the Committee for Industrial Organi-
zation, for the purpose of making definite
arrangements to send four or five organ-
izers to Detroit and also arrange for finan-
cial aid and work out other details in con-
nections with launching a drive in the
auto industry. Frankensteen said he
understands that four or perhaps five
organizers from the Committee for Indus-
trial Organization will be sent to Detroit
in about two weeks. Frankensteen stated
that this coming organizing drive in the
auto industry will be carried on under the
supervision and direction of the Commit-
tee for Industrial Organization.

In his concluding remarks, Franken-
steen stated that handbills have been pre-

172

APPENDIX

pared announcing a meeting to be held at
Chandler Park on Thursday evening, July
9th and explained that these leaflets will
be distributed around the East Side plants
on Wednesday and Thursday. He said
delegates present this evening who are
employed in East Side shops might find
an opportunity to carry a few of these
handbills inside and distribute them to
some of their friends.

Following Frankensteen's talk, there
was some general discussion in which
most of the delegates took part. This was
to the effect that the women folks and
wives of union members are not support-
ing the union properly. It was argued that
many of the wives object to their hus-
bands attending meetings, on the grounds
that after the meetings are over they visit
beer gardens and other amusement places
and do not get home until one or two
o'clock in the morning. During the dis-
cussion, it was admitted that many mem-
bers took advantage of the union meet-
ings to have a "night out" and this has
become known to many of the women
folk, with the result that many members
complain that their wives put up serious
objection whenever they want to attend a
union meeting.

Frankensteen brought his discussion to
an end by explaining that he will arrange
for a special radio program for the women
folks and explain to them how necessary
it is for their husbands to attend union
meetings if a successful organization of
auto workers is to be set up.

James Foster, who has been very active
in the Automotive Industrial Workers
Association, declared that right now
would be a very favorable time to put
forth some real organizing efforts directed
toward the Briggs employees. Foster ex-
plained that Briggs owns the Detroit
Tigers Baseball Club and if a strike
should develop at the Briggs Plant during
the course of organization, then Navin

Field could be picketed. He said this or-
ganizing drive of course would have to
take place during the baseball season. The
other delegates present this evening ap-
parently did not think much of Foster's
suggestion because no other comment was
made.

It was very warm in the hall this eve-
ning and many of the delegates complained
about the heat, with the result that Chair-
man Frankensteen adjourned the meeting
at 9:30 P. M.

SPECIAL REPORT
R-C-.D-88
7836

The above information, obtained from
sources deemed reliable, is furnished
without responsibility on the part of this
company.

Report of Burns Operative, Robert W.
Coates, on a union organization meeting
which he attended, and in which he took
an active part:

PITTSBURGH, PA.,
(Saturday}, July lyb, 1933.
Pittsburgh Operator No. 8062
Pittsburgh Investigator C-24 Reports:

Having been instructed by Acting
Manager D. R. S. to wait at the Agency
Office, I there met Pittsburgh Investiga-
tor D-i and Mr. Morrow. I was in-
structed to accompany Investigator D-i
to the vicinity of the McGeagh Building
where those identified with the bakery
industry were to have a meeting. I was
instructed to endeavor to be admitted to
the meeting and ascertain what tran-
spired.

At 7:30 P. M. I left the Agency Office
accompanied by Pittsburgh Investigator
D-i and when at an appropriate distance
from the McGeagh Building, we sepa-
rated.

APPENDIX

Approaching the McGeagh Building, I
observed several men who were no doubt
active in unionism, closely observing all
those who were entering the building.
Watching my opportunity I managed to
go into the building immediately in the
rear of three other men who had inquired
if there was a meeting in the building.
The watcher at the front of the building
advised us the meeting was in the room in
the rear of the third floor of the building.

I followed up the stairs to the third
floor and observed several men in the
third floor hall closely observing all men
that entered the rear room where the
meeting was to be held.

After entering I counted the number of
men present and found there were seventy-
eight young and older men in the room.
Several of the younger men especially ap-
peared to be truck drivers. In fact the
majority appeared to be those employed
in distribution rather than in the manu-
facturing end.

Seated up front at the chairman's table
was an Irishman whom they all appeared
to refer to as Dan, although one man
present in the hall advised me he was Mr.
Metche. Seated to the left of the chair-
man's table was a man they all addressed
as Sam, a Jew, possibly Russian Jew, who
has evidently been in this country for
some time, as he spoke very good English,
had exceptionally good diction, and a very
forceful fellow of about 35 years of age.
Later I learned that Sam was the Busi-
ness Agent and that Metche was Presi-
dent of the Bakers Union.

At the opening of the meeting Metche
addressed the men as non-union men and
stated that he was very much gratified at
seeing so many present. Metche went on
to explain that he and Sam had been very
active in the past two weeks in trying to
interview as many men employed in
bakeries about Pittsburgh as they could
and that he did not expect to see so many

present. (At this time there were several
more men entering the room. Later addi-
tions brought the total number to over
one hundred men present.)

Metche advised the men that the In-
dustrial Recovery Act recently passed
had made it possible for the men to secure
their rights and proper recognition with
their employers and that they desired to
unionize the baking industry as a whole,
taking in every one employed about the
shop whether he be a truck driver, baker
or shop man, salesman, and in fact all
those employed in the baking industry.
He stated that he observed one shop
represented one hundred per cent and I
inquired from one of the men and learned
that he had reference to the men from the
Hankey Baking Company.

After the usual organizers speech
pointing out to the men what benefits
unionism would give them if they joined,
Metche introduced the Business Agent as
"Sam" the Business Agent, who would
also address the men. There appeared to
be some significance in the manner in
which reference was made to this man and
that by addressing them by their Chris-
tian name.

Business Agent Sam then addressed the
men urging them to join the union. He
stated the initial cost would be $5.00 to
join and $2.25 per month dues for bene-
ficiary members and $1.40 per month for
non-beneficiary members. In case of death
of a beneficiary member, his beneficiary
would receive $300.00, and in case his
wife died, he would receive $75.00.

Sam stated there had been deep inroads
made in the ranks of the union bakers and
that he had learned the Master Bakers
were preparing their Code to submit to
Gen. Hugh S. Johnson, Recovery Ad-
ministrator and that they had decided on
asking for a forty hour week with a mini-
mum wage of $20.00 per week with pro-
portionate wages accordingly and he

174

APPENDIX

wanted all the men to join so that the
Bakers Union could show at least 75%
unionism and demand a thirty hour week
with a $30.00 minimum wage. Some young
fellow stated in interruption that he only
earned twelve dollars a week. Sam went
on to explain to the men that he felt con-
fident that if a sufficient number joined it
would only be a matter of another month
when they could demand this or close up
the shops.

Sam then urged the men to come for-
ward and sign a pink application blank
to join the union. The men did not rush to
do so and considerable comment surged
through the men in the room. I suggested
to one man who remarked to me that he
did not know whether there was anyone
from his shop that was spotting and he
was not going to take any chances on
losing his job as he had not been working
very steady. I suggested that he suggest
that the application blanks be passed
around to each man in the room and let
him take it home and decide to do what
he wanted. This was overheard by a
young man, who took it up from the floor
and this was done. I received one of the
blanks.

At this juncture the men were display-
ing considerable concern over the initia-
tion fee demanded and there was consid-
erable discussion among the different
groups and mixing in I suggested that as I
had only worked eight days out at Hallers
I did not have the money to spare but
that my idea would be to take all the old
union members in that had dropped out
free of any back dues and all the new mem-
bers at some nominal sum such as a dollar
in order to get each and every man. One
man who is very likely a union man ad-
vised me that my suggestion would have
to go before the executive board. I argued
my point and stated that if they want to
get all the men in my idea would not work
a hardship on those like myself who had

been out of employment so long, also
pointing out that this was labor's oppor-
tunity with the cooperation of the govern-
ment that the labor movement has never
had in its history. My point seemed to
carry and the union men took the matter
up with Sam and Sam came to my chair
and pointed out that funds were needed to
defray expenses. I offset this by stating
that it did not cost near as much to repre-
sent a million men than it did a thousand
as quicker results can be obtained if the
initiation expense was totally cut out as it
was quantity in numbers that was re-
quired now in a very limited time and
that when the men did sign up strong to
say 85 or 90% it would only be a month
when the dues would be pouring in and
the desired result would be the same, re-
gardless as to whether the $5.00 was paid
in or not.

Sam got my point and then advised the
men that if they could not spare the $5.00
to turn in $1.00 with their application and
he would take the matter up with! the
executive board and know more about
what their action would be at the next
meeting to be held the first week in Au-
gust. This went over pretty good and an
elderly man paid in one dollar for himself
and five dollars for five others. When
Sam saw that this was going over so well
he again came to my chair and asked me
for my application and I advised him of
my financial circumstances pointing out
to him that as I had just been employed at
Hallers Bakery only eight days ago and
did not know all the men and was afraid
there might be someone spotting in the
room, I would rather mail my application
in. I advised Sam there was no doubt in
my mind that several others felt just like
I did and Sam then went on to declare to
all the men that another good point had
been brought up and that while arrange-
ments had been made to stop any spotters
coming to the meeting and he was con-

APPENDIX

I7S

fident there were none present, it was
possible there were men in the room who
desired to join and were afraid they
might lose their jobs but if they desired to
do so they could fill out their own applica-
tion blank and mail it to him and he as-
sured all those present that he and no one
else would know who joined until the or-
ganization was complete, and the records
then turned over to their secretary, to be
elected later by them.

Sam and Metche finally enlisted what I
would estimate about forty members and
at the $1.00 fee but it is quite likely that
at least another 20% more would sign
their application and mail it in.

During the filling out of the applica-
tions the men milled about the room and I
met Sam later when he inquired of me as
to my name. I gave him a name and ad-
vised him that I would very likely send in
my name, but desired more secrecy as I
did not wish to lose my job, which ap-
peared to satisfy him. Sam states he was
well pleased with what applications he
had received and looked for a large meet-
ing the first week in August.

Metche then addressed the men advis-
ing them that while they could take what
papers they had received home with
them, he desired that all the men keep it
very confidential as to what had gone on
tonight and not by any chance discuss the
meeting in their shops as he wanted all the
men to join and t>hat much better results
could be obtained if the matter were kept
secret until the shops were fully organized.
He stated further that he desired each
man to work for a 100% organization and
urged the men to bring some new men to
the next meeting.

Metche further stated that organization
work was going on all over the country in
all trades to enable their representatives
of each respective industry to show a
strong hand when the code for each indus-
try is finally settled on and it behooves

every wage earner to join now and show
a united front in each separate industry.

Each man present w?? urged to read the
daily papers about the Industrial Re-
covery Act and see for himself what a
wonderful opportunity the wage earner
has today which he has never had before,
describing the Industrial Recovery Act as
a new " Bill of Rights."

By this time several groups of men were
leaving the room and continuing on down-
stairs and I went down to the front of the
building where I met several congregated
about the doorway. Mixing in the discus-
sion I could readily observe that Sam and
Metche had planted strong arguments in
fertile ground. While taking part in the
discussion Sam came down looking and
inquiring for a fellow he called "Lampel"
who works out at Hallers Bakery. Not
knowing Lampel I told Sam so, where-
upon he stated he was very anxious to
have seen him before he got away, indi-
cating he was at the meeting and had left.
I took this opportunity to properly intro-
duce myself and compliment Sam in his
masterful manner in handling his subject
tonight, but while Sam shook hands with
me he stated he was " Sam " and desired to
see me at the next meeting. I told him
that I expected to be present if I was still
working and hoped he had success in se-
curing 1 00% organization. Sam stated he
was very grateful for the attendance to-
night and someone in the crowd asked
Sam where he was from and Sam replied
"somewhere in Europe" and grinned.

I joined several of the men in having
refreshments at a nearby restaurant and
observed Pittsburgh Investigator D-i in
the vicinity. Later I left the vicinity of the
McGeagh Bldg. and joined Investigator
D-i when we both reported in person to
Mr. Morrow at his residence on Union
Ave., N. S.

Mr. Morrow instructed me to report at
their office Monday morning at io:oc

Refreshments i . 20

Car fare .10

Time: One day 12.00

MH/

$14-3

Fill, pp. 3119-3122

176 APPENDIX

o'clock when he desired me to confer with
him and others regarding future plans.

I left Mr. Morrow at 11:00 P. M., re-
turned to my room where I was engaged
until 3:00 A. M. preparing this report.
After doing so I discontinued for the day.
Expenses:

Supper and lunch $i . oo

D.

Members of Employers' Association of Akron and amounts of their contributions,
1933 to 1936:

1933 *934 1935 1936

B. F. Goodrich Co.

500 S. Main Street $6220.70 $9216.01 $10868.64 $11117.52

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.

1144 E. Market Street $6876.72 $11266.69 $ 1 39%%-3 1 $ I 3792.oo

Firestone Tire & Rubber Co.

1278 S. Main Street $4372.45 $7271.00 $9152.96 $9419.44

General Tire & Rubber Co.

E. Market & Holmes St $728.55 $1047.72 $1284.56 $1222.64

Mohawk Rubber Co.

1235 Second Avenue $279.05 $293.35 $206.30 $158.90

American Hard Rubber Co.

Seiberling Street $207.30 $215.75 $220.45 $246.70

Quaker Oats Co.

102 S. Howard Street $342 . 65 $367 . 20 $342 . 25 $347 . 35

Robinson Clay Products Co.

1 1 oo 2nd National Bldg $6.00 $33-5 $36.00 $36.00

Akers & Harpham Co.

1065 Dublin Street $3.00 $5-75 $6.00 $3.00

Thos. Phillips Co.

23 W. Exchange Street $50.50 $58.00 $60.10 $60.00

Carmichael Construction Co.

148 E. Miller Avenue $8.35 $8.00 None None

Imperial Electric Co.

64 Ira Avenue $26.75 $26.50 $30.90 $39.40

National Rubber Machinery Co.

917 Sweitzer Avenue $123.30 $126.10 $82.35 $85.25

Akron Equipment Co.

E. Exchange & Annadale $21.75 $34- 2 5 $3-9 $32.40

Mechanical Mold & Machine Co.

946 S. High Street $53 .15 $57.65 $64.20 $63.70

Akron Standard Mold Co.

1624 Englewood Avenue $84.80 $90.75 $85.40 $82.75

APPENDIX

Walter F. Kirn

366 S. Broadway

Resigned February, 1933:
Steigner-Koch Co.

99 W. Market Street.
Resigned June, 1936:

Franklin Brothers Co.
49 E. Glenwood Ave.

|2. 60

$.40

|6. 65

177

45

19.40 $10.55

I hereby certify that the above is a true and correct list of the members of The Em-
ployers' Association of Akron & Vicinity from January ist, 1933, up to the present date,
and that the amounts set opposite their names for the years mentioned are the true and
correct amounts contributed by them respectively to the Association in dues for said
^ears and that there have been no other contributions.

H. C. PARSONS, Sec'y-Treas.

Sample detailed report sent by The
Goodyear Co. to Mr. Cowdrick, secretary
of the special conference committee:

THE GOODYEAR TIRE
& RUBBER COMPANY,
Akron, Ohio, June 12, 1036.
Mr. E. S. COWDRICK,
30 Rockefeller Plaza,
New York City, N. T.
DEAR MR. COWDRICK: We have sent
you some newspaper reports the last few
days covering reports of the labor situa-
tion at Gadsden and its effect upon our
local situation here in Akron.

We have just received a report from a
representative of our management in
Gadsden on this situation which we be-
lieve will be of interest.

Dalrymple, President of the Rubber-
workers Union, talked with our local
superintendent in Gadsden late Friday
(June 5) and apparently was satisfied
with the explanation given him regarding
the dismissal of two union employees. Both
of these dismissals were caused by viola-
tion of company rules. One employee had

V1L1, pp. 3202, 3203

spoiled considerable stock and had tried
to cover up same. The other one had been
repeatedly warned as to garnisheements,
but had persisted in not looking after his
outside financial affairs, and just recently
was found guilty of some other loose finan-
cial deals in regards to issuing of checks.

While in Gadsden, Dalrymple called a
meeting in the Court House, at which he
was the chief speaker. The meeting was
attended by a large group, including most
of the union people in town. Of this union
organization there were a large number
from one of the local textile plants who
were out of a job. There also were some
members present from a steel company, as
well as some from our own plant.

The statement was made by the speaker
that there were a number of dissatisfied
workers in the Goodyear plant and when
he was asked from the floor who was dis-
satisfied and who had asked him to come
to Gadsden, his explanation was met by a
shower of eggs, tomatoes and rocks. A
free-for-all fight was precipitated and a
few knives and guns were drawn by some
of the radical union members. No one
was seriously injured, however, and the

APPENDIX

Sheriff escorted Dalrymple out the back
entrance of the Court House.

As he came down the steps and started
across the street a gang of men rushed up,
and between this point and his hotel he
was rather roughly treated.

His wife was at the hotel and they were
told to leave the town and not return to
Alabama again.

During the mixup one of the union men
had flourished his gun, and some of the
non-union workers, when he reported for
work Monday morning, asked if he was
still armed. When he replied that he was
not, one of the men in the shop proceeded
to give him a good beating. This precipi-
tated some difficulty, and when the super-
vision were able to break up the trouble,
they escorted a number of the principals
to the gatehouse to give them a chance to
cool off.

After investigation, the supervision
found there were other union men on the
other shift who were going to be given the
same treatment by non-union workers,
and so these clock cards were pulled.

14 employes out of a total of 20 were
given their pay. This 14 includes the origi-
nal two who were dismissed. The other 12
were paid off with the understanding that
their working in the plant might cause
trouble and they were advised to stay out
for some time, but they were not formally
discharged.

Federal and State investigators have
been to Gadsden and yesterday afternoon
we were visited by a committee of the
Rubberworkers' Union to discuss this
Gadsden difficulty and also the dismissal
of a man at the Kelly Springfield Plant.

At this meeting we were presented with
an agreement similar to the one which
was discussed at the settlement of the
strike here in Akron. Also, there was
tacked on it a clause that we would agree
to pay the same rates of pay in both
Gadsden and Cumberland that we are

paying in Akron. The management in-
formed the Committee that they were
not in a position to consider this agree-
ment but would investigate the cases of
the men at the Gadsden Plant , as well
as the one at Kelly Springfield.

This situation, of course, has been the
cause of some difficulty here in Akron.
It resulted in complete cessation of opera-
tions Wednesday midnight. There was
some further trouble in the Plant II Pit
because the union workers would not
work with some of the non-union employes
in their department.

The situation yesterday was rather
tense because of the announcement of the
future policy that no minimum wage
would be paid in the future to anyone
whose earnings were affected by a sit-
down, nor would minimum wage be paid
to any employee who reported for work
and were unable to work because of a
sitdown.

At the meeting yesterday afternoon,
however, the union committee discussed
this new policy with the management and
seemed to understand it and abide by it if
we would agree to clean up a couple of
wage matters caused by the difficulty on
Thursday morning at Plant II. This was
cleaned up to the satisfaction of all con-
cerned and we got by last night without
any difficulty.

We will keep you informed as to any
further developments.

Yours very truly,

L. A. HURLEY,
Manager, Inter Plant Relations,

L A Hurley

TA

VIII, pp. 3206, 3207

F.

Frankensteen's account of the attack
on him by Ford service men:

Walter and I walked up and photog-
raphers called and asked to take a picture.

APPENDIX

179

They took a picture of the three of us,
Walter, Jack Kennedy and myself. Im-
mediately after the picture was taken a
fellow came over and said, "you are on
Ford property, get the hell off of here."
We started to walk for the steps to leave,
but I hadn't taken three steps when I felt
a crack in the back of the neck. I turned
around and as I turned more blows were
struck. As I started to defend myself they
got me on all sides. There seemed to be
about 25 men working on me.

Participating in the attack on the
bridge were about 1 50 men. I was knocked
down, but someone grabbed my coat from
the back and threw it over my head. They
knocked me down again, turned me over
on my side and began to kick me in the
stomach. When I would protect my side
they would kick my head.

One of the attackers would say, "That
is enough, let him go." Then they would
pick me up and stand me on my feet, but
I was no sooner on my feet than they
would knock me down again. This went on
about five times. They let me lie there for
a while; during that time every once in a
while someone would grind his heel into
me. They pulled my legs apart and kicked
me in the scrotum. By this time they had
me driven to the steps, leading down on
the east side of the bridge. As I started
down the first step I was again knocked
down. They picked me up and bounced

me from one step to the next. I was
bounced on each step. As I went down
four or five j steps I came to the land-
ing.

There were four or five more men who
proceeded to administer the blows from
that place. This continued until they had
me on the cinders by the street car tracks
on the south side of the fence. At that
point a street car approached. The men
began bouncing me on the cinders, pick-
ing me up and knocking me down on the
cinders.

I lost consciousness while on the bridge,
but when they stood me on my feet it
seemed to restore my faculties. I knew
what was going on but could not speak.

They said, "Go get your coat." My
coat was lying on the street car tracks. A
big fat fellow, a man I could identify
easily, as his face is very pronounced in
my mind, said, "Go get your coat." As I
went to pick up my coat I was again
knocked down. That was the last time
that I was knocked down. By this time I
had approached the end of the fence
where we were picked up by newspaper
men who drove us to a physician's office.

During this time the Dearborn police
who were present made no effort to fore-
stall this action.

United Automobile Worker ,
May 29,1937.
(Reprinted by permission.)

i8o

APPENDIX

G.

Description of suppressed Paramount
News Reel of the "Memorial Day Mas-
sacre" in South Chicago:

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch was the first newspaper in the United
States to print the following account and thereafter it was reprinted by
many other newspapers.

Senators See Suppressed

Movie of Chicago Police

Killing Steel Strikers

Brutal Scenes of Memorial Day Vividly Shown in

News Reel

Members of Investigating Com-
mittee Shocked at Picture of
Officers Firing Pointblank
Into Crowd of Marchers

PURSUED, CLUBBED
DOWN AS THEY RUN

Audience Views Close-Ups of
Encounter, Accompanied by
Sounds of Shots and Screams
of Wounded Demonstrators

Post-Dispatch Bureau.

201-205 Kellogg Bldg.
(Copyright, 1937, Pulitzer Publishing Co.)

WASHINGTON, June 16. Five agents
of the La Follette Civil Liberties Com-
mittee, headed by Robert Wohlforth, the
committee's secretary, arrived in Chicago
yesterday to begin an investigation of the

tragic events of Memorial day, when nine
persons were killed or fatally wounded by
city police in smashing an attempt by
steel strike demonstrators to march past
the Republic Steel Co. plant in South
Chicago.

Appearance of the committee's agents
on the scene coincided with the death of
the ninth victim, a iy-y ear-old boy re-
ported to have joined the pickets in the
hope of getting a job in the mill after set-
tlement of the strike.

It was learned today that the commit-
tee's decision to proceed with the inquiry
was hastened by the private showing here
last week of a suppressed news reel, in
which the police attack on the demon-
strators is graphically recorded. The com-
mittee obtained possession of the film in
New York, after its maker, the Para-
mount Co., had announced that it would
not be exhibited publicly, for fear of in-
citing riots throughout the country.

APPENDIX

181

Senators Shocked by Scenes

The showing of the film here was con-
ducted with the utmost secrecy. The audi-
ence was almost limited to Senators La
Follette (Prog.), Wisconsin, and Thomas
(Dem.), Utah, who compose the commit-
tee, and members of the staff. Those who
saw it were shocked and amazed by scenes
showing scores of uniformed policemen
firing their revolvers pointblank into a
dense crowd of men, women and children,
and then pursuing and clubbing the sur-
vivors unmercifully as they made frantic
efforts to escape.

The impression produced by these fear-
ful scenes was heightened by the sound
record which accompanies the picture,
reproducing the roar of police fire and the
screams of the victims. It was run off
several times for the scrutiny of the in-
vestigators, and at each showing they de-
tected additional instances of "frightful-
ness." It is expected to be of extraordinary
value in identifying individual policemen
and their victims. The film itself evidently
is an outstanding example of camera re-
porting under difficult conditions.

Description of Picture

The following description of the picture
comes from a person who saw it several
times, and had a particular interest in
studying it closely for detail. Its accuracy
is beyond question.

The first scenes show police drawn up in
a long line across a dirt road which runs
diagonally through a large open field be-
fore turning into a street which is parallel
to, and some 200 yards distant from, the
high fence surrounding the Republic mill.
The police line extends 40 or 50 yards on
each side of the dirt road. Behind the line,
and in the street beyond, nearer the mill,
are several patrol wagons and numerous
reserve squads of police.

Straggling across the field, in a long,
irregular line, headed by two men carrying

American flags, the demonstrators are
shown approaching. Many carry placards.
They appear to number about 300 ap-
proximately the same as the police al-
though it is known that some 2000 strike
sympathizers were watching the march
from a distance.

Marchers Halted by Police

A vivid close-up shows the head of the
parade being halted at the police line. The
flag-bearers are in front. Behind them the
placards are massed. They bear such de-
vices as: "Come on Out Help Win the
Strike"; "Republic vs. the People," and
"C I O." Between the flag-bearers is the
marchers' spokesman, a muscular young
man in shirt-sleeves, with a C I O button
on the band of his felt hat.

He is arguing earnestly with a police
officer who appears to be in command.
His vigorous gestures indicate that he is
insisting on permission to continue
through the police line, but in the general
din of yelling and talking his words cannot
be distinguished. His expression is serious,
but no suggestion of threat or violence is
apparent. The police officer, whose back is
to the camera, makes one impatient ges-
ture of refusal, and says something which
cannot be understood.

Then suddenly, without apparent
warning, there is a terrific roar of pistol
shots, and men in the front ranks of the
marchers go down like grass before a
scythe. The camera catches approxi-
mately a dozen falling simultaneously in
a heap. The massive, sustained roar of the
police pistols lasts perhaps two or three
seconds.

Police Charge With Sticks

Instantly the police charge on the march-
ers with riot sticks flying. At the same
time tear gas grenades are seen sailing
into the mass of demonstrators, and clouds
of gas rise over them. Most of the crowd

182

APPENDIX

is now in flight. The only discernible case
of resistance is that of a marcher with a
placard on a stick, which he uses in an at-
tempt to fend off a charging policeman.
He is successful for only an instant.
Then he goes down under a shower of
blows.

The scenes which follow are among the
most harrowing of the picture. Although
the ground is strewn with dead and
wounded, and the mass of the marchers
are in precipitate flight down the dirt
road and across the field, a number of in-
dividuals, either through foolish hardi-
hood, or because they have not yet real-
ized what grim and deadly business is in
progress around them, have remained be-
hind, caught in the midst of the charging
police.

In a manner which is appallingly busi-
nesslike, groups of policemen close in on
these isolated individuals, and go to work
on them with their clubs. In several in-
stances, from two to four policemen are
seen beating one man. One strikes him
horizontally across the face, using his club
as he would wield a baseball bat. Another
crashes it down on top of his head, and
still another is whipping him across the
back.

These men try to protect their heads
with their arms, but it is only a matter of
a second or two until they go down. In one
such scene, directly in the foreground, a
policeman gives the fallen man a final
smash on the head, before moving on to
the next job.

In the front line during the parley with
the police is a girl, not more than five feet
tall, who can hardly weigh more than ico
pounds. Under one arm she is carrying a
purse and some newspapers. After the
first deafening volley of shots she turns,
to find that her path to flight is blocked
by a heap of fallen men. She stumbles
over them, apparently dazed.

The scene shifts for a moment, then she

is seen going down under a quick blow
from a policeman's club, delivered from
behind. She gets up, and staggers around.
A few moments later she is shown being
shoved into a patrol wagon, as blood cas-
cades down her face and spreads over her
clothing.

Straggler's Futile Flight

Preceding this episode, however, is a
scene which, for sheer horror, outdoes the
rest. A husky, middle-aged, bare-headed
man has found himself caught far behind
the rear ranks of the fleeing marchers.
Between him and the others, policemen
are as thick as flies, but he elects to run
the gantlet. Astonishingly agile for one of
his age and build, he runs like a deer,
leaping a ditch, dodging as he goes. Sur-
prised policemen take hasty swings as he
passes them. Some get him on the back,
some on the back of the head, but he
keeps his feet, and keeps going.

The scene is bursting with a frightful
sort of drama. Will he make it? The sus-
pense is almost intolerable to those who
watch. It begins to look as if he will get
through. But no! The police in front have
turned around, now, and are waiting for
him. Still trying desperately, he swings to
the right. He has put his hands up, and is
holding them high above his head as he
runs.

It is no use. There are police on the
right. He is cornered. He turns, still hold-
ing high his hands. Quickly the bluecoats
close in, and the night sticks fly above
his head, from the sides, from the rear.
His upraised arms fall limply under the
flailing blows, and he slumps to the ground
in a twisting fall, as the clubs continue to
rain on him.

CIO officers report that when one of
the victims was delivered at an undertak-
ing establishment, it was found that his
brains literally had been beaten out, his
skull crushed by blows.

APPENDIX

183

Man Paralyzed by Bullet

Ensuing scenes are hardly less poign-
ant. A man shot through the back is
paralyzed from the waist. Two policemen
try to make him stand up, to get into a
patrol wagon, but when they let him go
his legs crumple, and he falls with his face
in the dirt, almost under the rear step of
the wagon. He moves his head and arms,
but his legs are limp. He raises his head
like a turtle, and claws the ground.

A man over whose white shirt front the
blood is spreading perceptibly, is dragged
to the side of the road. Two or three po-
licemen bend over and look at him
closely. One of them shakes his head, and
slips a newspaper under the wounded
man's head. There is a plain intimation
that he is dying. A man in civilian cloth-
ing comes up, feels his pulse a moment
then drops the hand, and walks away.
Another, in a uniform which might be
that of a company policeman, stops an
instant, looks at the prostrate figure, and
continues on his way.

Loading Wounded in Wagons

The scene shifts to the patrol wagons in
the rear. Men with bloody heads, bloody
faces, bloody shirts, are being loaded in.
One who apparently has been shot in the
leg, drags himself painfully into the pic-
ture with the aid of two policemen. An
elderly man, bent almost double, holding
one hand on the back of his head, clam-
bers painfully up the steps and slumps
onto the seat, burying his face in both
hands. The shoulders of his white shirt
are drenched with blood.

There is continuous talking, but it is
difficult to distinguish anything, with one
exception out of the babble there rises
this clear and distinct ejaculation:

"God Almighty!"

The camera shifts back to the central
scene. Here and there is a body sprawled
in what appears to be the grotesque indif-

ference of death. Far off toward the outer
corner of the field, whence they had come
originally, the routed marchers are still in
flight, with an irregular line of policemen
in close pursuit. It is impossible to dis-
cern, at this distance, whether violence
has ended.

A policeman, somewhat disheveled, his
coat open, a scowl on his face, approaches
another who is standing in front of the
camera. He is sweaty and tired. He says
something indistinguishable. Then his
face breaks into a sudden grin, he makes a
motion of dusting off his hands, and strides
away. The film ends.

H.

Elaine Owen's account of the attack on
him by T.C.I, thugs:

NIGHT RIDE IN BIRMINGHAM

Birmingham is hot. The air breathes
steel, coal, and oil. There are names which
should be put in parentheses after the
name Birmingham: TCI, Republic Steel,
Schloss-Sheffield. And the greatest of
these is TCI. TCI is Tennessee Coal and
Iron United States Steel, the House of
Morgan.

In the company houses they have estab-
lished a rule that workers with gardens
must not grow corn or anything as high
as a man's head. Lights burn in the spaces
between the houses all night. Don't be
found in the streets after nine-thirty. But
somehow the meetings go on, somehow no
terror can stop these meetings. Although
it means jail and beating, leaflets appear
miraculously on doorsteps overnight,
calling for organization and struggle.

It was on my way home that a police car
went by slowly, two uniformed men in
the front seat. One drove, the other swung
the spotlight full on me. Across the street
stood a dark sedan, men standing about
it, smoking. I walked on around the cor-
ner. They closed in, and the Ford sedan

184

APPENDIX

quietly rolled in front of us, the doors al-
ready open. Not a person in the entire
block. There was no sense in yelling for
help.

Held firmly between them in the back
of the car, we shot past the traffic light
and between the rows of quiet buildings.
No one said a word. The windows were
closed tight and we all sweated slowly, out
of breath from the tussle, panting . . .

Smash! It came though I had known
it would come as a surprise. My lip was
numb as I took a deep breath and tried to
double up as it came again. This time it
caught me on the cheek and I could feel
the small surface of a yellow gold ring
crushing the skin against the bone.

There was a salt taste to the thick
blood, and I sucked it in with my breath.
A sharp knee dug into my stomach and I
gasped, straining to free my arms. I
thought I would never again get air into
my lungs, they felt crushed and splattered
all over inside me. Somehow I forgot my
face. It was in my lap maybe, maybe in
his lap, a trip-hammer pounding on it, but
it was no longer part of me. I started once
more in my mind to go carefully through
each pocket in my coat, my trousers, the
one in my shirt. Suddenly the blows had
stopped. The realization startled me and I
opened my eyes, but only the right one
would open . . .

Another short silence, then he moved
once, and his knees came crashing up into
my face. "Elaine Owen," he said. "Think
you're smart, don't you. Elaine Owen."
He dragged it out, gloating over the name,
over the victim, like a jackal.

"You've got too much hair you God
damn nigger lover," he said, and hauled
me into a headlock, my face in his lap.
His companion beat a tattoo on my ribs
with his doubled fists.

"How do you like this?" he wanted to
know, the sound coming choked and
jagged from somewhere deep in his throat

as a handful of hair was torn out and
stuffed into the thick blood clogging my
mouth. I said nothing. There was nothing
to say . . .

The tall gaunt one stood in the shadow
with the dull gleam of a revolver at his
side, and asked me quick short questions.
Each time he would pause long enough for
the younger one with the straight dark
brows and the rolling lips to slam me in
the face. "He won't talk," he said.
Smash! "Hasn't said a God damn word."
Smash! . . . Keep your mouth shut, I
said to myself over and over, keep your
mouth shut, because they're going to
finish you anyway, and the more you say,
the more they'll pound before they finish
you off.

"Throw him in the river," the fair
young one said, and from somewhere a
rope was brought.

It must have been the driver, whom I
never saw except for the back of his low,
broad head there in the car, who pulled
my coat off from behind, while the rope
cut down across my shoulders, with a
high, crying swish before the sharp slap. I
felt hands rip off the shirt strip by strip,
yanking it off the places where blood had
begun to dry and stick. Someone was
ripping my trousers with a knife.

Lying face down on the ground I pre-
tended I had passed out, and wondered
why I hadn't. The rope cut across my
back and at first I clamped my teeth
together and it was all right. After the
rope bit into the open places time after
time, I kept saying to myself, "Throw
me in the river, go ahead, bump me off."
It gave me something to concentrate on.
The whip came down taking bits of skin
with it.

The whipping stopped, and a boot
crashed into my ribs. I rolled over and
slumped back on my face. There was a
slight pause before it began again. The
dark browed one danced up and down and

APPENDIX

18 5

whipped the rope around my shoulders
and body with the force of the blow. Then
it would be a moment before he could pull
it away. The raw pain surged through my
whole body, reached down and pierced my
legs and my finger tips with each slash of
the doubled rope, now wet with blood. I
gasped and gagged for the breath which
seemed burned out of me. I kept my lips
tight shut, but I couldn't stop the grunts
that came with each blow . . .

I don't know when it stopped. I only
know that I could think of nothing but
the great necessity of keeping my mouth
shut and lying as still as possible. I recall
more questions coming out of the shadows,
through the whisper of the descending
rope, the eternal convulsions of pain.
There was nothing more important in the
world, nothing else in the world at that
time, but this.

Vaguely I realized that it had stopped,
heard the car door slam, and tried to lift
my head as the tires dug into the soft dirt

and the car spun away. I tried to see the
license number in the moonlight, but a
mist hung over my right eye. The left was
useless, buried under great puffs of swollen
flesh.

I let my face drop forward again, and
hugged the earth, not wanting to slip off
into sleep, wanting now to go, somehow,
back to Birmingham, back to the workers
there.

Workers kept an armed vigil at my bed-
side. One metal worker, who had been a
member of the Klan only a few years ago,
brought his little eight-year-old boy to
me. He asked me to sit up in bed, and
he bared the cuts and slashes that criss-
crossed my body, back and face, before
the child's eyes.

" Look at that, sonny," he said. "That's
the company. That's what you got to
learn to hate and fight agin."

ELAINE OWEN, in The New Republic,

Aug. 28,
(Reprinted by permission.)

REFERENCE NOTES
To date the record of the hearings of the
La Follette Committee has been pub-
lished in eight volumes: one covering the
preliminary hearings and eight others
covering the hearings thereafter. The
volume of the preliminary hearings is
referred to throughout as Prelim and the
succeeding volumes are referred to by
their Roman numerals.

REFERENCE NOTES

CHAPTER I

Pages 3, 4. IV, p. 1262 ff.
Page 5, line 10. Ibid., p. 1388.
Page 6, line 6. Prelim., p. 72.

Line 14. Ibid., p. 77 (in the larger figure
there was no attempt to draw the line
between spies and strike-breakers).
Line 23. Ibid., p. 77.
Line 28. VI, pp. 2175, 2186.
Page 7, line 25. Prelim., p. 336 (this list
includes hirers of the strike-breaking
service of detective agencies).
Page 8, line 7. IV, pp. 1363-1370.
Line 16. V, pp. 1853-1857.
Line 27. I, pp. 292-294.

CHAPTER II

Page 10, line 15. Prelim., p. 60.
Page II, line 17. Jean E. Spielman, The
Stool-Pigeon and the Open Shop
Movement, p. 39. American Publishing
Co., Minneapolis, 1923.
Line 27. IV, p. 1105.
Page 12, line 5. Prelim., p. 68.

Line 24. IV, p. 1105.
Page 13, line 15. Ibid., pp. 1211, 1213.
Page 17, line 13. V, pp. 1612-1614.
Page 18, line 28. Ibid., pp. 1515, 1516.
Page 19, line 29. Ibid., p. 1538.
Page 20, line 32. VI, pp. 2103, 2104.

Page 21, line 8. VII, p. 2318.
Line 21. Prelim., p. 104.

Page 22, line 29. Ibid., p. 311.

Page 23, line 5. Ibid., pp. 275, 310.
Line 17. New York Times, December 17,

1934-
Line 22. IV, p. 1148.

Page 24, line 21. V, p. 1616 (my arrange-
ment).

Page 25, line 8. IV, p. 1376.
Page 26, line 3. V, pp. 1608, 1609.

Line 20. National Labor Relations Act
(48 Stat. 449), 74th Congress. Ap-
proved July 5, 1935.
Page 27, line 12. Prelim., p. 275.
Page 28, line 4. II, p. 686 ff.

Line 22. Prelim., p. 291.
Page 29, line 2. Ibid., p. 292.

Line 31. Ibid., p. 22.
Page 30, line 14. Ibid., p. 318.

Line 24. Quoted in The New Republic,

March 3, 1937.
Page 31, line 2. Prelim., p. 69.

Line 19. I, pp. 71, 72.
Page 32, line 22. Ibid., pp. 179, 180.
Page 33, line 10. Ibid., p. 205.

Line 34. VI, p. 2069.

CHAPTER III

Page 36, line 14. Prelim., p. 163.
Page 39, line 12. Ill, p. 1060.
Page 41, line 7. Ibid., p. 1061.
Page 43, line 3. IV, p. 1432.
Page 44, line 2. Ibid., pp. 1432, 1433.
Page 45, line 3. Ibid., pp. 1442, 1443.

Line 13. Ibid., p. 1312.

Line 16. Ibid., p. 1312.
Page 46, line 7. Ibid., p. 1317.

Line 14. Ibid., p. 1315.

Line 34. Ibid., pp. 1434, 1435-
Page 49, line 18. Ibid., pp. 1436, 1437.

CHAPTER IV
Page 52, line 20. I, p. 2OI.

Line 36. IV, p. 1420.

187

i88

REFERENCE NOTES

Page 53, line 22. Ibid., p. 1273.

Line 26. I, p. 182.
Page 54, line 8. Ibid., p. 42.

Line 14. Ibid., p. 81.
Page 55, line 4. Ibid., p. 43.
Page 57, line 28. IV, pp. 1317-1319.
Page 59, line 34. Ibid., pp. 1320-1322.
Page 60, line 12. II, p. 503.
Page 61, line 9. IV, p. 1423.
Page 63, line 2. Prelim., p. 17.

Line 23. Ibid., p. 177.
Page 64, line 2. V, p. 1477.

Line 34. IV, p. 1 149.
Page 65, line 18. Ibid., pp. 1377, 1378.
Page 68, line 14. Ibid., pp. 1384, 1385.
Page 69, line 26. Ibid., pp. 1435, 1436.

CHAPTER V

Page 71, line 19. IV, p. 1348.
Page 72, line 14. Ibid., p. Ill I ff.

Line 19. II, pp. 674, 675.

Line 24. Ibid., p. 494.
Page 73, line 7. Ibid., p. 474 ff.
Page 75, line 34. Prelim., pp. 334, 335.

Page 76, line 20. IV, p. 1349 ff.

Line 28. Ibid., p. 1349 ff.
Page 77, line 17. Ibid., pp. 1118, 1119.
Page 78, line 24. Ibid., p. 1161.
Page 79, line 17. V, p. 1866.
Page 81, line 18. VI, pp. 1916-1918.
Page 82, line 20. IV, pp. 1222, 1227.

Page 83, line 3. VI, p. 1916.
Line 24. Ibid., pp. 1978-1981.

Page 84, line 25. VIII, p. 2843.
Page 85, line 30. Ibid., p. 2775.
Page 87, line 32. V, pp. 1513, 1514.
Page 90, line 28. Ibid., pp. 1519-1528.
Page 91, line 8. Ibid., p. 1589.
Page 92, line 9. Ibid., pp. 1590, 1591.

Line 32. IV, p. 1176.
Page 93, line 5. Ibid., p. 1177.

Line 12. VI, p. 2061.

Line 14. IV, pp. 1153-1160.

Line 16. V, p. 1540.

Page 94, line 7. II, 594.

Line 26. Ibid., pp. 399, 400.

Page 95, line 15. I, p. 268.

Page 96, line 21. Prelim., pp. 177, 178.

Page 97, line 15. Congressional Record,

April 7, 1937, p. 4132.
Line 32. V, pp. 1534, 1535-
Page 98, line 14. I, p. 202.

Line 30. Jean E. Spielman, op. cit., p.

239-
Page 99, line 12. II, p. 390.
Line 19. Ibid., p. 391.
Line 29. Ibid., p. 392.

Page 100, line 7. Ibid., p. 655.

Page 101, line 9. Ibid., pp. 402, 403.
Line 34. Ibid., p. 595.

Page 102, line 7. Ibid., p. 383.
Line 32. I, p. 79.

CHAPTER VI

Page 105, line 9. Adam Smith, An Inquiry
into the Nature and Causes of the
Wealth of Nations, pp. 70, 71, edited
by C. J. Bullock. Harvard Classics
edition, Collier & Son, 1909.
Line 21. C. E. Bonnett, Employers
Associations in the United States, p.
14. The Macmillan Company, N. Y.,
1922.

Page 107, line 3. VIII, pp. 3086-3090.

Page no, line 4. Ibid., pp. 2954-2958.
Line 32. Ibid., pp. 2947, 2948.

Page 112, line n. Ibid., pp. 2948-2950.
Page 113, line 29. Ibid., pp. 2958-2962.

Page 114, line u. Ibid., p. 2952.
Line 24. Ibid., p. 2952.

Page 115, line 28. Ibid., pp. 3198, 3199.
Page 118, line 2. VIII, pp. 2881, 2882.
Page 119, line 3. Ill, pp. 981-994.

Line 17. Ibid., pp. 818, 820.
Page 120, line 13. Ibid., p. 1007.

Line 22. Ibid., p. 1007.

Page 121, line 3. Ibid., p. 1007.
Page 122, line 8. Ibid., pp. 833, 834.
Page 123, line 3. Ibid., pp. 835, 836.

REFERENCE NOTES

189

Page 125, line 2. Ibid., pp. 901, 902.

Line 31. Ibid., p. 889.
Page 126, line 31. Ibid., p. 890.
Page 127, line 17. Ibid., p. 945.
Page 128, line 3. Ibid., p. 936.

Line 20. Ibid., p. 887.
Page 129, line 12. II, p. 404.
Page 130, line 23. Ill, pp. 939-941-
Page 131, line 17. Ibid., p. 911.

Line 22. Ibid., p. 912.
Page 132, line 12. Ibid., p. 913.

Page 133, line 15. Ibid., pp. 915, 916.

Line 34. Ibid., p. 917.
Page 134, line II. C. E. Bonnett, op. cit.,

p. 292.

Line 16. Ibid., p. 295.
Page 136, line 4. Cf. Harry A. Bullis, In-
dustry Must Speak. Published by
National Association of Manufac-
tures, N. Y., 1936, pp. 9-13.
Line 9. Ibid., p. 13.
Pe,ge 137, line 22. VI, p. 2036.

CHAPTER VII

Page 140, line 9. IV, p. 1273.

Line 31. National Labor Relations
Board v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Cor-
poration, The New York Times, April
13, I937-

Page 141, line 5. Holden v. Hardy, 169
U. S. pp. 366, 397.

Page 142, line 3. Quoted in National La-
bor Relations Board, Division of
Economic Research, Bulletin No. I,
pp. 82, 83, Government Printing
Office, August, 1936.
Line 1 6. Cf. Monthly Labor Review,
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U. S.
Dept. of Labor, Jan., 1936, May,
1936, May, 1937.

Page 143, line 2. National Labor Relations
Board v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Cor-
poration, op. cit.

Line 15. The New York Herald Tribune,
February 10, 1937.

Line 33. Ibid., March 6, 1937.

Page 144, line 7. VII, p. 2509.

Line 21. The New York Times, March

15, 1937-
Page 145, line 10. Ill, p. 883.

Line 22. Prelim., p. 47.

Page 146, line 15. The New York Times,

April 14, 1937.
Page 147, line^. Ibid., December 17, 1934.

Line 30. Ibid., May 27, 1937.
Page 148, line 4. Ibid., May 27, 1937.

Line 35. Ibid., June i, 1937.
Page 149, line 7. The New York Post, June

17, 1937-

Page 150, line 24. Prelim., pp. 267, 268.
Page 151, line 3. Ill, p. 752.

Line 13. Ibid., p. 1048.

Line 16. IV, p. 1341.
Page 152, line 7. VIII, pp. 2983, 2984.
Page 153, line 17. Ibid., pp. 2995, 2996.
Page 154, line n. Ibid., p. 2975.

Line 28. II, p. 410.
Page 155, line 6. Ibid., pp. 410, 411.

Line 20. Ibid., p. 393.

Line 24. Ibid., p. 390.

Line 26. Ibid., p. 458.

CHAPTER VIII
Page 159, line 4. Ill, p. 862.

Line 20. C. E. Bonnett, op. cit., p. 80.
Line 25. IV, p. 1282.
Line 30. Prelim., p. 7.
Page 160, line 6. National Labor Rela-
tions Board v. Jones & Laughlin Steel
Corporation, op. cit.
Line 30. National Labor Relations Act,

op. cit.

Page 161, line 26. National Labor Rela-
tions Board, Bulletin No. I, op. cit.,
p. 83.
Page 162, line 14. Congressional Record,

April 7, 1937, p. 4119.
Page 163, line 7. The New York Times,

Feb. 14, 1937.

Line II. Henry D. Lloyd, Wealth
against Commonwealth (1894), p. 175.
National Home Library Foundation,
Washington, D. C., 1936.

INDEX

Adlen, Richard, spy, affidavits on, 46.
Ailes, A. S., 94, 128, 129, 154, 155.

testimony of, 100, 101.
Agencies, clients of, 7.

evasion of Social Security Act by, 92,

93-
formation of company unions by,

. 3-33-

list of, Appendix A.

making and faking of trouble by, 95 ff.

morals and ethics of, 71 ff.

new technique for strike-breaking,
115-118.

number of, 5.

relation to class war of, 143.

spying on spies by, 84.

spying on vendor plants by, 81-83.

strike-breaking by, 99, 100.

tie-up to munitions firms of, 102, 104.

tools of employers, 139 ff.

trustification of, 103, 104.
Akron Be aeon- Journal, editorial of, 114,

US-

Akron Law and Order League, 114, 115.
American Federation of Labor, question-
naire of, 21, 22.
American Liberty League, 26.
"American Way," the, 139 ff.
Anderson, Harry W., testimony of, 81.
Andrews, John, 71.

and Richard Frankensteen, 3^4.

Associations of employers, number of,

105 ff.

purpose of, 105 ff.
Atlantic Production Co., 66, 67.

B.

Babson, Roger W., report on agencies of,
98.

Barker, Lawrence, testimony of, 20.

Bennett, Harry H., 146, 147.

Blacklist, 28.

Black and Decker Electric Co., strike at,
129, 130.

Blankenhorn, Heber, 5, 6.

Blind Ads, 64, 65.

Bonnett, Clarence E., 105.

Brady, Samuel H., 63.

Bronson, R. L., 55-57.

Brunswick, R. L., 86.

Bullis, Harry A., 134, 136.

Burns, William J., International Detec-
tive Agency, Inc., 6.
shadowing of trial jurors by, 84, 85.

Burns, W. Sherman, letter of solicitation,
106, 107.
testimony of, 84, 85.

Burnside, R. L., testimony of, 58, 59,
88-90.

Butler, System of Industrial Survey, 30,

c.

Caldwell, Frank W., 132.

Capital and Labor, strength of, 141.

Chrysler Corp., 12.

payment to Corporations Auxiliary
Co., 5, 76.

Securities Act violation by, 76-78.

Citizens' Alliance groups, purpose of

115-118.

Clark, Edward S., testimony of, 83.
Class war, 139 ff.

indication of, 143 ff.

Coates, Robert W., testimony of, 83, 84.
Collective bargaining, 160, 161.

statement of Commission on Industrial
Relations on, 161.

191

I 9 2

INDEX

Columbian Stamping and Enameling

Co., 102.
Commission on Industrial Relations,

statement on collective bargaining of,

141, 142, 161.

"Committees of citizens," 115-118.
Company Unions, formation and purpose

of, 29-30.

tools of employers, 161, 162.
Corporations Auxiliary Co., 6, 7-8, 12,

23, 52, 107-

accessory to Securities Act violation,
76-78.

annual income of, 71.

function of, n, 12.

payments by Chrysler Corp. to, 76.

payment of operatives, 5.
Cronin, James C., spy, 63.
Grouse Hinds Co., 132-133.
Cowdrick, E. S., 136, 137.
Cunningham, E. T., testimony of, 116,

118.

D.

Dalrymple, Sherman H., beating of, 152.

Davison, E. C., testimony of, 127.

D. G., spy, 39-41.

Deming, George E., 130, 131.

Democracy, necessity for in industry,

160, 161.

Dudley, , testimony of, 15.

Duquesne, 29.

E.

Electric Auto-Lite Co., 45.
Employers' Association of Akron, 107 ff.

members and contributions of, Ap-
pendix B.
Employers, belief in class war of, 143-145.

opposition to collective bargaining of,
141, 142.

organization of, 105 ff.

F.

Federal Laboratories, Inc., 93, 102.
Firestone Tire Co., 100, 101.
Flint Alliance, 115.

Foote, Herrick, 94.

Ford, Henry, statement on unionism by,
146.

Ford Motor Co., attitude toward union-
ism of, 145-148.
1936 profit and loss account of, 148.

Forwerck, Charles, affidavit of, 60, 61.

Foster, Louis, spy, affidavit on, 47-49.

Foster Service, letter of, 9.

Frankensteen, Richard, beating of, 147,
148.

his own account of the beating, Ap-
pendix F.
testimony of, 53, 139, 140.

and John Andrews, 3.

Fruehauf Trailer Co., case of, 27, 28.
Furey, Bart, spy, 45, 46.

G.

Gadd, C. A., testimony of, 129, 130.

General Motors Corp., 162, 163.
fake bills of, 78-81.
payments to Pinkerton Detective

Agency, 6.

purchase of munitions by, 154, 155.
shadowing of government official for,
86-90.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., 113 ff.
military training of guards of, 152, 153.
report to Conference Committee of,
Appendix E.

Grabbe, W. H., 101, 102.

Gray,W.H., 31,94, 95.

testimony of, 53-55.

Green, William, testimony of, 21.

H.

Hale, Merle C., testimony of, 79-82.
Harlan County, 149.
Haskell, Allen P., testimony of, 8 1, 82.
Hoffman, Governor H. G., 116.
Holderman, Carl, testimony of, 63, 95, 96.

Homestead, 29.
strike, 91.

Hughes, Chief Justice, 140.

INDEX

'93

I.

Industrial espionage, destruction of, 162,

163.

violation of Wagner Act by, 143.
International Auxiliary Corp., 23, 49, 92.
Ivey, G. Eugene, testimony of, 102.

J.

Jennings, Charles, letter of, 158, 159.
Johnston, Joseph J., letter of, 153, 154.
Jones & Laughlin, Labor Board Case,

140, 142.

election of, 149.

K.

Keller, K. T., 131, 132, 140.

statement of, 144.
Killinger, Charles, affidavit of, 42.
Kuhi, E. M., testimony of, 32-33, 52, 98.

L.

Labor disputes, causes of, 142.

La Follette Committee, 5.

La Follette, Senator R. M. Jr., 9, n, 33.

Lake Erie Chemical Co., 93, 94, 128, 129,

154, 155-

gases of, 99, 100.

Lawson, A. E., testimony of, 31, 32.
Le May, E. D., 150-151.
Lengel, John D., affidavit of, 47-49.
Lesley, C. D., testimony of, 152-153.
Letteer, Lyle, testimony of, 19, 97.
Lewis, John L., on spy system, 162, 163.
Libbey-Owens Ford Glass Co., 60.
Lichtenberger, George, spy, 126.
Lionel Manufacturing Co., 48.
Lippmann, Walter, on employment of

agencies, 143.
Litchfield, Paul W., testimony of, 110-

II3-
Lloyd, Henry Demarest, on spying, 163.

M.

McGrady, Edward, shadowing by Pinker-
tons of, 86-90.
MacGriffin, Edgar E., 102.

Manville Manufacturing Co., 93.

strike-breaking by, 99, 100.
Martin, Homer, affidavit of, 46.
Martin, William H., testimony of, 17-18,

86-87.

Marshall Detective Service Co., letter of,
10.

Matles, James, testimony of, 127, 128.
Memorial Day massacre, 148, 149.
Military training of guards by employers,

ISI-IS4.
Mohacsi, John, spy, affidavit of, 66-68.

testimony of, 92.

Morse Twist & Drill Co., 125, 126.
Munitions makers, 93 ff.
Munitions, purchase of by employers,

154, 155-

N.
N.R.A., 29, 30.

Labor Department inquiry, 23, 146,
147.

National Association of Manufacturers,

105.

membership of, 134.

propaganda activities of, 134, 136.

purpose of, 134.

National Corporations Service, 53, 102.
National Labor Relations Act, 143.
National Labor Relations Board, 125.

concerning Fruehauf Trailer Co., 27, 28.

election by, 149.

National Metal Trades Association, 105.

customers of Lake Erie Chemical Co.,
128, 129.

membership of, 118.

opposition to collective bargaining of,
123-125.

purpose of, 1 19.

rules of conduct of, 120, 121.

tactics of spies of, 127.

union-smashing of, 125, 126.

violence of guards of, 129, 130.
New York Herald Tribune, editorial on

collective bargaining of, 143.

O.

Open shop, 121, 122.
Organization, of employers, 105 ff.

I 9 4

INDEX

Organization of workers, 157 ff.
purpose of, 140, 141.

Owen, Elaine, beating of, 150, 151, Ap-
pendix H.

P.

Paramount News, suppressed film of,

Appendix G.

Parsons, H. C., testimony of, 107-110.
Patterson, George A., testimony of, 29, 62.
Pekin Distilling Co., 150.
Perkins, Frances, 29.
Philco Radio Co., 131.
Pinkerton, Robert A., income of, 73.

testimony of, 14-16, 89.
Pinkerton's National Detective Agency,

6, 21, 23, 24, 56.

annual income of, 72.

clients of, 8.

fake General Motors bills of, 78-81.

payments received from General Mo-
tors, 6.

spying on Corporation's Auxiliary by,

83.
shadowing of government official by,

86-90.
violation of law by, 91-92.

R.

Railway Audit and Inspection Co.. 6, 31,

34, 53-55, 102.

clients of, 8.

Red Star Milling Co., 10.
Reed, Walter, affidavit of, 43.
Republic Steel Co., anti-union policy of,

148, 149.

Rice, L.D., 31, 54,95.
Rigby, Charles, testimony of, 55-57.
Roberts, Edith, affidavit of, 45, 46.

Robinson, Senator J. T., on company
unions, 162.

Ross, Dan G., 13.

salary of, 71.

testimony of, 64.
Rossetter, Asher, 60.

testimony of, 15.

salary of, 72.

Roszel, F. A., 22, 23, 44, 45.
Rubicz, Steve, affidavit of, 68, 69.

S.

Sayre, Homer D., tactics toward friends

of Labor of, 131-133.

testimony of, 119, 121-125, 144, 145.
Securities and Exchange Act, evasion of,

76-78.
Sherman Service, Inc., 6.

correspondence course booklet of, 73.
Shults, spy, 39-41.

Sloan, Alfred P., Jr., statement of, 144.
Slusser, Clifton, testimony of, 151, 152.
Smith, Adam, 105.
Smith, Edwin S., 28.
Smith, Hal, on necessity of spies, 145.

Smith, James H., salary of, 72.
testimony of, II, 12, 77, 93.

Smith, Matthew, testimony of, 23.

Social Security Act, 92, 93.

Sparks, Mayor C. Nelson, 114, 115.

"Special Conference Committee," pur-
pose of, 136-137.
sample report to, Appendix E.

Spies, as union officials, 21-33.

correspondence course booklet of train-
ing for, 73-76.

cost to industry of, 6.

definition of, 139.

effect of activity of, 21.

function of, 9 ff.

employers argue necessity for, 159.

how defeated, 162, 163.

instructions to, 35, 36.

necessity in class war of, 145.

number of, 6.

Sherwood Detective Bureau, 116-118.

reports of, 17, 38-41.

reports on union members by, 18.

sample reports of, Appendix B, C.

stealing of union records by, 19.

tapping of telephones by, 20.

technique of union-smashing of, 34 ff.

wages of, 71.

Spy, "report en route," 37.
Stott, John, spy, affidavits on, 42, 43.

INDEX

Strikes, causes of, 142.
Stringham, L. A., 131, 133.
Sugar, Maurice, statement of, 146, 147.
Summers, Charles, testimony of, 150.
Sunbeam Electric Co., anti-unionism of,
128.

Supreme Court, decision on agencies of,

8 5-. .

decision on collective bargaining of, 142.
decision on unionism by, 140.
decision on Wagner Act, 26.
Swope, Gerard, attitude toward Labor
of, 132, 134.

Sylvia, Ferdinand, affidavit of, 126.
T.

Tear gas, no sale to unions of, 155.

sales to employers of, 155.
Tennessee Coal Iron & Railroad Co.,

150, 151.

Thomas, Senator Elbert D., 9.

Trade unions, answers to objections to,

162.

methods of building, 158, 159.

necessity for, 157 ff.

purpose of, 140, 141.
Travis, Robert, testimony of, 21.
Trusch, Nicholas, 27.

U.

Union-Smashing, Strike-Breaking Co.,
103, 104.
technique of, 34 ff.

Unionism, defeat of spying by, 157 ff.
Unionization, purpose of, 140, 141.
United Automobile Workers attempt to

organize Ford, 147, 148.
U. S. Rubber Reclaiming Co., 14-17.

V.

Vigilante committees, 115-118.
Violence, use of, by employers, 147 ff.

W.

Wagner Labor Relations Act, 25, 26, 157,

159, 160, 161.
Wealth of Nations, 105.
Weber, salary of, 72.
Weckler, Herman, 140.

testimony of, 12, 13.
Western Pacific Railroad, termination of

Pinkerton service, 25.
Wheeler, Senator B. K., speech by, 96, 97.
Williams, Roy, affidavit of, 52.

testimony concerning, 53.
Wohlforth, Robert, 14.
Woodward, L. E., 21.
Workers, way out for, 163.

World-Telegram, story of beating at Ford
plant of, 147, 148.

Worthington Pump Co., 47, 66, 68, 69, 92.

Z.

Ziegler, Phil E., testimony of, 63.

MODERN AGE BOOKS

IT would cost several thousand dollars to publish a single book.
When the cost is spread over two or three thousand books, as is
usually the case, the cost per book is reduced, but still remains high
enough to put it beyond the reach of the average reader.

To overcome this difficulty, Modern Age Books are printed in edi-
tions of fifty to a hundred thousand copies, which so reduces the
cost per book that it is possible to sell them at prices within the
range of even the lowest income groups.

Modern Age Books are being published at regular intervals. They
are full-length books, by the best modern authors. They cover the
entire field of current literature from popular fiction to serious
studies of political, social, and economic problems. In addition to
new books, Modern Age is re-issuing a series of unabridged editions
of the literary treasures of the present and the past.

For the purpose of convenient identification, all Modern Age Books
are issued in three classifications: 1. Blue Seal Books; 2. Gold Seal
Books; 3. Red Seal Books. All new books published for sale at 25^
carry the Blue Seal label; all new books priced above 25^f carry the
Gold Seal label; all re-issues of standard literary works carry the
Red Seal label and sell for

All books published in these three classifications at these low prices
are bound in sturdy paper covers. For those who wish to have
Modern Age Books in a more durable form, a limited number of
both Blue and Gold Seal titles are available, attractively bound in
cloth.

BLUE SEAL BOOKS

1. BABIES WITHOUT TAILS, by Walter Duranty

2. ALL'S FAIR, by Richard Wormser

3. MURDER STRIKES THREE, by David MacDuff

4. OLD HELL, by Emmett Gowen

5. RED FEATHER, by Marjorie Fischer (Juvenile)

6. MEALS ON WHEELS, by Lou Willsoji and Olive Hoover (Cook

Book)

GOLD SEAL BOOKS

1. THE UNITED STATES: A GRAPHIC HISTORY, by Louis M. Hacker,

Rudolf Modley and George R. Taylor

2. FROM SPANISH TRENCHES, compiled by Marcel Acier

3. KALTENBORN EDITS THE NEWS, by H. V. Kallenborn

4. THE LABOR SPY RACKET, by Leo Huberman

5. MEN WHO LEAD LABOR, by Bruce Minion and John Siuart

BED SEAL BOOKS

1. TRAVELS IN THE CONGO, by Andre Gide

2. TWELVE AGAINST THE GODS, by William Bolitho

3. SUSPICIOUS CHARACTERS, by Dorothy L. Sayers

4. THE LEAVENWORTH CASE, by Anna Katharine Green

5. THEY SHALL INHERIT THE EARTH, by Morley Callaghan

6. THE DARING YOUNG MAN ON THE FLYING TRAPEZE,

by William Saroyan

7. THE HONORABLE PICNIC, by Thomas Raucat

8. MR. WESTON'S GOOD WINE, by T. F. Powys

9. A PASSAGE TO INDIA, by E. M. Forsler

10. BLOOD OF THE CONQUERORS, by Harvey Fergusson

LEO HUBERMAN

The author of The Labor Spy Racket has
already established a notable reputation al-
though he is only thirty-four. His first books,
We, the People, (1932) and Man's Worldly
Goods, (1936) found a large reading public
both in America and England. Man's Worldly
Goods was the April choice of an English book
club, with a first printing of some 46,000 copies.
It was also the February choice of the Book
Union over here. Louis M. Hacker, Professor
of History at Teachers' College, Columbia
University, and co-author of The United
States: A Graphic History, in reviewing it for
The New Republic, wrote: "Mr. Huberman is
singularly equipped for his task; he is the pos-
sessor of an amazingly vivid vocabulary and
what amounts to a real talent for simplifica-
tion."

Mr. Huberman was born in Newark, New
Jersey, graduated from the Normal School
there and taught for four years in the Newark
public schools. He spent his summers working
in various industrial jobs. He has traveled
widely from coast to coast, hitch-hiking, in
this country, to study local conditions, and ex-
tensively in Europe as an observer of industrial
and political conditions. He studied further
at Columbia University, the New School for
Social Research, the London School of Eco-
nomics, and at New York University (M.A.,
1937), and was an associate editor of Scholas-
tic magazine until he resigned to devote the
greater part of his time to writing.